ROSEMARY AND THYME DINNER ROLLS

“The smell of good bread baking, like the sound of lightly flowing water, is indescribable in its evocation of innocence and delight...

Breadmaking is one of those almost hypnotic businesses, like a dance from some ancient ceremony. It leaves you filled with one of the world's sweetest smells... there is no chiropractic treatment, no Yoga exercise, no hour of meditation in a music-throbbing chapel. that will leave you emptier of bad thoughts than this homely ceremony of making bread.” ― M.F.K. Fisher, The Art of Eating

 

 

MFK Fisher was a genius.

 

I've been thinking of getting into baking bread for a while and putting it off because it was too intimidating. Then I found this great blog by Chef John Mitzewich http://foodwishes.blogspot.in/ which has hundreds of really well edited video recipes. Anyway now bread making is becoming a little bit of an obsession and I've been making rolls and loaves every weekend. The only problem is that I don't have an electric mixer yet and to knead this baby by hand is crazy hard.

 

Anyway, back to the recipe - the video format was specially helpful for this dinner roll endeavour because it let me see exactly what the dough should look like at different stages. Very useful when you're trying something new and cooking blind since you're not entirely sure how to get to the photoshop-perfect-end-photo you see in a recipe. (Unlike the really imperfect end photo here - please don't be discouraged by my amateur, yellow, blurry pictures).

 

These rolls are a great first step into bread making and baking. They're so pretty and the rosemary and thyme together smell amazing.They're also light (unless you plan to add more butter to the recipe - I would never say no to you adding more butter to anything) and most importantly they taste great. Replace with oregano or any other seasoning you like. This would pair perfectly with an otherwise heavy meat dish or a pasta plate.

 

So here's the video recipe for the dinner rolls: http://foodwishes.blogspot.in/2012/12/rosemary-honey-pull-apart-dinner-rolls.html.

 

Some notes on things I did differently from the video and some general thoughts:

 

1. I did all the kneading by hand (first with a whisk then with a strong wooden spoon and finally by hand). If you don't have an electric mixer this can be quite an effort.

 

2. I didn't have fresh rosemary and thyme so I used a couple of tablespoons of dried seasoning and it worked perfectly well.

 

3. Don't just ration out 3 cups of flour for this. For my dough to get to the right state I ended up using a lot more plus extra for flouring surfaces etc.

 

4. This is a time consuming process so if you're planning it for a party or an occassion it's probably best prepared in advance and warmed up for the event.

 

5. Bread making (specially if you're kneading by hand) is messy so get your apron on.

 

Oh and many many thanks to Mythili for finding me the foodwishes blog! I really need to make a batch of this and have it sent over!

CARROT and CHICKPEA BURGERS

“Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” - Michael Pollan, In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto

I love burgers! Though it isn't a very honest love. I really like bastardized/ chat masala-d versions of burgers like the Wimpy's Burger or the Maha Mutton Burger at Kents, which I've tried to imitate here. I'm also a big fan of the Indian vegetarian, aloo tikki burger. My favourite is a tie between what they serve up at Nirula's and the Hariyali Kebab burger from Fasttrax. So though this burger patty is made of carrots it's has the gorgeous, heavy handed, aloo tikki feel of the kind of burger I like. Add as much masala as you like, fry it up and enjoy...

Makes 6 burgers

Adapted from Good Food Magazine

 

What you’ll need:
 

200 gms carrots (peeled and grated)

300 gms chick peas (soaked overnight and then pressure cooked for about 3 whistles)

1 onion (grated)

6 tbsp vegetable oil

4 tbsp lemon juice

4 tbsp garlic paste

4 tbsp chaat masala

3 tbsp tahini (optional)

2 tbsp coriander powder

2 tbsp ground cumin

1 tbsp red chilli powder

2 eggs

Salt to taste

Pepper to taste

6 burger buns

Butter

Serve with ketchup and mustard

 

How to:
 

1. Grate the carrots and dump into a large bowl (hereinafter referred to as the “Bowl”). Add grated onion.
 

2. Pressure cook the chick peas for about three whistles (if you’ve soaked them overnight) if you havn’t soaked them then just pressure cook them silly because you need them to be mush.
 

3. Pour the chick peas with a little bit of the liquid they’ve been cooking in and the garlic into your blender and blend to mush. Add this chick pea garlic mush to the Bowl. Break two eggs into the Bowl.
 

4. Throw in all other ingredients except the burger buns and butter into the Bowl. Get in there with your hands and mash everything together evenly. Shape into good sized patties and lay them out.
 

5. Heat oil in a flattish pan and carefully (I can’t manage more than 2 at a time) add the patties. Cook on each side for about 4 -5 minutes.
 

If it starts to fall apart when you’re trying to flip it don’t worry. You can just use a couple of spoons to press it back into some kind of shape. Same for when you’re done cooking and you think it’s falling apart on the bun – just use your hands and squish it into shape.
 

6. Toast the burger buns, butter them up. Place a patty in there. Add a couple of thin slices of tomato, lettuce, onions and mayo if you like and serve with ketchup and mustard on the side.

RESTAURANT REVIEW: CA VA - CURRENTLY CLOSED

 For when you need some peace and quiet

 

 

I loved Ca Va for being warm and quiet on a frenetic Saturday night. I turned up when it felt like all of Delhi was trying to make it to at least three weddings. I had my own set of wedding and wedding related things to attend but the thought of getting my hair done and matching earrings to shoes was too much for that Saturday night. Instead I found myself in this quiet, comfortable restaurant playing scrabble and eating pork pepperoni pizzettes with chilli flakes.

 

  

LOOKS LIKE

The other reviews I’ve been reading me tell me Ca Va got a face lift recently. I haven’t visited before but I love the new avatar with its almost ridiculously harmonious white, blue and yellow palette. Two corners have fluffy, overstuffed sofas and the rest of the tables are rustic, paint chipped wood. Board games are stacked on the side waiting for you to curl up with a glass of wine, bruschetta and good company. The other corner has a sweet, tiny, white bar tucked into it.

 

 

TASTES LIKE 

The menu reads ambitiously with sandwich, burger, pizza, soup, salad and grill options. Everyone knows the problem with all these options is ending up with dishes that turn out too similarly or the collective whole just being much less than the sum of the parts. Maybe it was just a lucky day but the smoked salmon with arugula on baguette was much more than I expected – slices of warm baked bread loaded down with generous helpings of fresh salmon and salad leaves. The pork pepperoni with chilli flakes isn't a  delicate gourmet confection but sometimes all a girl needs is melting cheese and pepperoni rounded up with oregano. The lamb meatballs in arrabiata sauce was similar, well cooked, heavily flavorful pasta with satisfying chunks of meat – not going to win the chef any stars but so satisfying. Unfortunately the tenderloin fillet steak with red wine and mushroom sauce was a disappointment. The sauce was fine but the meat much too well done. I wouldn’t recommend Ca Va for when you want a fine dining experience but its basics are in place and if you don’t try anything fancy you should walk away full and content.

 





Smoked Salmon with Arugula on Baguette



 FEELS LIKE

 

One more hurrah for non-Hauz Khas Village/ Khan Market type restaurants – the staff were helpful, considerate and prompt.

 





Tenderloin Steak with Mushroom and Red Wine Sauce



 

THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW

Should you go: Definitely!

Vegetarian Options: Yes

Liquor License: Yes

Smoking Area: No

Address: 7, First Floor, Defence Colony Main Market, New Delhi

Phone: 011 30146022

 



Lamb Meatballs and Penne in Arrabiata Sauce

SNAPSHOTS: A HOLIDAY IN THE HILLS

After climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb - Nelson Mandela

Different people take different kinds of holidays. There are beach people and city people. Some scuba dive, others soak in spas. I struggle with some sort of Austro-Hungarian hangover since I keep turning up in or around the empire for every vacation since graduation.

This winter I disappeared to the hills for a little bit for a holiday unlike any I've ever taken and it was wonderful. Doing something completely out of character taught me so much more than Vienna could. It sounds like the kind of advice you find on the side of a coffee cup and ordinarily I really resent proverbs. But cliches become that way because they work, right? More coffee cup print! Before someone has the good sense to clobber me I'll get to telling you more about my holiday. It might sound too sedate but I loved it.

I got to stay in a beautiful house and wake up to a view like this -

 

I took some long, quiet (apart from my panting) walks down paths like these - 

 

I saw nature being incredible in ways I hadn't seen before -

 

 At the end of the day I watched the sun set - 

 

The evenings sometimes came with this:

After dinner I curled up in front of a blazing fire with a good book. The Mortdecai Trilogy, I recommend it strongly to fans of crime fiction. 

 

 

I was asleep by 9 on most nights but I managed to knock 4 books off my reading list and learnt I might even be a mountain person.

HOT BUTTERED RUM

Why is the rum always gone?! - Jack Sparrow

 

This is a hardcore cold fix. Don't try this recipe unless you feel a real threat of hypothermia. No I mean it. This is buttery, spicy and (very) heavy. If you haven't reached that age where you worry about diet choices and eating meals at regular intervals this could be a meal. I'm pretty sure it's the calorific equivalent of atleast 2 meals.

But if like me you are stuck in a cold, cold place and have all the sweaters in your cupboard on your back this will fix you. Go out for a walk, take a deep breath of the cold winter air, run back indoors and drink some of this stuff.

 

What you’ll need (for 4 cups):

8 teaspoons butter

1 tsp Cloves

1 tsp Cardamom

4 sticks Cinnamon

3 tablespoons sugar

1 ½ cup orange juice

Hot water

 

How to: 

 

1. Crush the cloves, cardamom and cinnamon to a powder.

 

2. Heat the butter in a pan and add the spices and sugar. Stir in well.

 

3. Drop a heaping tablespoon of the spice butter mixture into each cup.

 

4. Heat orange juice and water in a pan.

 

5. When ready to serve add rum to each cup and then top up with the hot water/juice mixture. Stir well and serve.  

 

CHEATER'S MULLED WINE

“his lips drink water

but his heart drinks wine”

― E.E. Cummings

 

 

So I was waiting to put together a series of posts on food and drink to make you feel better in the bitter winter except it was so cold out that I got lazy. Then day before yesterday the temperature started to rise and I realized that my recipes were going to become useless soon and Delhi would be back on its diet of Cucumber Coolers and Melon Martinis. So here's me getting my act together while the temperatures stay low.

 

Again this is one of those indicative recipes. That's why it's called Cheater's Mulled Wine. Actual Mulled Wine recipes tend to have a lot more stuff floating in the wine but it's too cold for me to try to make the effort.

 

Feel free to mess around with the proportion till you find something that works for you. Also with the ingredients. I imagine you could do away with some of the ingredients below or add more of your own (maybe nutmeg?). You'll see I've put in a lot of fruit options - go with whatever you have at hand, so either just one fruit or a combination of what  you have lying around. It will all work.

 

This is a wonderful drink to drink when you come back in from the cold. Put your feet up, get your book and have a furry, warm dog lying by your side while the mulled wine heats you inside out.

This is what I was looking at when I was drinking my Mulled Wine this winter.

 

What you’ll need: 

A bottle of wine (any will do but a red or deep fruit wine may take on the flavours better)

2 tbsp sugar (more if you want it sweeter)

1 cup fruit juice (ideally to match the flavor of the fruit you’re putting in but orange is a good failsafe)

3 -4 pods of Cardamom (crushed)

3 -4 sticks of Clove (crushed)

2 -3 sticks of Cinnamon

Oranges/ Pomegranate/ Lime (not lemons)/ Pineapple/ Apples (chopped)

 

How to:

1. Smash together the cardamom, clove and cinnamon. Keep some sticks of cinnamon aside to garnish your drink.

2. Pop all ingredients together in a pot and let sit for as long as you can.

3. When time to serve, place pot on stove and heat through. Make sure you don’t boil the mix because you’ll boil the alcohol away.

4. Once warmed through ladle into mugs and serve! I really like having some of the fruit pulp in my drink but check if your companions want the drink strained.

 

CUPS OF BRUSCHETTA

“Dining partners, regardless of gender, social standing, or the years they've lived, should be chosen for their ability to eat - and drink! - with the right mixture of abandon and restraint. They should enjoy food, and look upon its preparation and its degustation as one of the human arts.”
― M.F.K. Fisher, Serve It Forth

 

This is such a fun, yummy starter to try to put together! Basically you bake little cups of bread which eventually hold the bruschetta you've plunked together. And if you don't feel like bothering with the cups just scoop the tomato mixture up and plop onto slices of toasted baguette and serve!

 

What you’ll need:

4 – 6 small tomatoes (chopped into a little chunks) (these will fill about 9 cups)

9 – 10 slices of brown bread
½ cup olive oil
½ cup cheese (grated)
2 tablespoons garlic paste
1 tablespoon oregano
Handful of fresh basil leaves (chopped)
Salt and pepper to taste

 

How to:

1. Much like the Eggs In a Cup recipe I’ve put up – oil up your chopping board and a rolling pin. Lay out slices of bread (you can leave the crusts on – I do), cut bread into quarters and roll the slices of bread thin.

 

2. Olive oil the insides of a muffin tray and line with thinned bread. Dab some more olive oil on top. Bake the bread for 10 -15 minutes till golden and a little crunchy.

 

Note: This is one of those steps that looks easy but when you actually get to lining the muffin tray you might find that the bread tears or overlaps in places. Don’t worry about it being messy and you can use stray bits of bread to patch any holes that you see.

 

3. While your muffin cups are baking, in a large bowl, combine the tomatoes, 3 – 4 tablespoons olive oil, salt, cheese, garlic, oregano and any other seasoning you want to include.

 

Note: I have a kitchen sink Italian mix that I got as a gift which has a mix of parsley, thyme, oregano and chilli which I used. Put in whatever you like – even the quantities I’ve mentioned are only indicative. Taste the mixture and see if you’d like to put more of anything.

4. Top up your bread cups with your tomato mix and bake for 10 -12 minutes till the cheese melts and the top is golden. Sprinkle the chopped basil and serve immediately.

 



BREAKFAST BANANA LOAF

“Baking is like washing--the results are equally temporary.”  ― Patricia Briggs

A moist, spicy, nutty bread to uplift the gloomiest winter breakfast. If you don't have a loaf tin you can always bake it as a cake and cut out slabs in the sizes you want. Try to use overripe bananas, yes the ones with the black spots and smudgy bits (not completely decomposed though obviously). Bananas that have seen better days will bake beautifully and add a lot of sweetness to your batter.  

 

 

Serves 6

 

What you’ll need:

 

3 bananas (preferably overripe)

60 ml vegetable oil

60 ml softened butter

160 gm sugar

3 eggs

225 gm flour

100 gm raisins

100 gm almonds/walnuts

1 ½ tsp baking powder

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp ground cloves

½ tsp salt

 

How to:

 

1. Preheat oven to 180°C and grease 2 loaf tins (or one medium sized baking dish).

 

2. Mash the banana and oil together and put aside.

 

3. In a separate bowl, cream the sugar and butter till the mixture turns pale and fluffy. This might take some time so keep at it. Much easier with an electric whisk but it’s possible even by hand.

 

4. Beat the eggs into the sugar mixture, one by one. Then add your banana mush and stir gently.

 

5. In another bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, spices and salt. I usually sift the flour mixture a couple of times to try to build as much air into it as I can.

 

6. Add flour mix to banana mush and mix everything together. Add the raisins and nuts and fold together again.

 

7. Spoon batter into loaf tins and bake for about 30 mins or till your inserted toothpick/knife/chopstick comes out clean. Let cool. Unmould.

 

8. I’d say warm them up a little every time you’re going to serve but they’re going to taste amazing anyway.

 

 

 

BREAKFAST PIZZA

“Those pizzas I ate were for medicinal purposes.” ― Amy Neftzger

Happy New Year! May our new year be as simple, satisfying and stress free as this breakfast pizza recipe. 

 

Serves 2

What you’ll need:

Pre-baked pizza base

4 tbsp tomato puree

½ cup cheese (grated)

½ cup spinach (washed and chopped)

1 egg

1 ½ tbsp oregano

1 ½ tsp red chilli powder

Salt and pepper to taste

Olive oil

Sundried tomatoes (optional)

 

How to:
 

1. Pop your pizza base on to your baking tray and spoon on the tomato puree evenly.

 

2. Sprinkle a layer of cheese and follow with a layer of chopped spinach in a sort of nest shape (leave a hole in the middle, genius).

3. Break an egg into abovementioned hole. Season wildly with oregano, salt, pepper, chilli and whatever else floats your boat. I managed to find a bottle of sundried tomatoes under my stove and plunked some of those on as well.

 

4. Bake for 10 – 12 minutes or till egg on top is cooked. Sprinkle some more cheese and serve immediately!

 

A VEGETARIAN DINNER PARTY