GOOEY CHOCOLATE FILLED CHOCOLATE COOKIES

“To do good is noble. To tell others to do good is even nobler and much less trouble.”
― Mark Twain

 

There's nothing more exciting for a writer (even a lowly food blogger) than somebody appreciating your work. Thank you so much to everyone who's ever bothered to call/ write in/ message words of kindness. You have no idea how much motivation it offers to someone who spends most of their time worrying about spoons and spatulas. It's easy to feel stupid or like you're wasting your time while everyone's employed at something more lucrative but every compliment lights the way.

 

To spread the sunshine, here are some food writers I love to follow, who are doing amazing things out there in the big, bad blogosphere:

 

1. Tongue Ticklers: Also run by someone who juggles foodblogging and a day job, this site has incredible vegan recipes with some mindblowing food photography. There are lots of Indian food blogs out there but very few with this level of aesthetic polish.

 

2. Sugar and Charm: An old favourite, I've been following Eden Passante and her beautiful family's adventures in California for over 3 years now. A very pretty, very pleasant, very feminine blog filled with design inspiration, photographs and mouthwatering dessert recipes.

 

3. M Loves M: Mara puts together some really charming outfits, simple recipes along with some great photos on this simple but elegant blog.

 

4. Passionate About Baking: Another Indian blog and this one has some hardcore, over the top desserts! Delightful to look at but a little intimidating to try, a lot of these recipes are on my ambitious to do list.

 

5. Sinfully Spicy: I realize I gravitate towards girly, dessert blogs and since we can't survive on cookies and cobblers alone, I'm going to end with this blog that has some seriously delicious savoury dishes.

 

One thing all these blogs have in common is the superlative food photography, I wish I could intern with one of them to figure out how they do it! These are of course just 5 out of the hundreds of food blogs out there and maybe I can make this into a more regular series where I get you more lovely links.

 

The only problem with the world wide web is that it stretches so far and while I'd like to send each of these talented blog owners a batch of these decadent chocolate cookies with gooey chocolate filling, I can't. I made these for a lunch my parents threw and realized that you never grow out of the desire for a crumbly, chocolaty, overload. Or at least my parent's friends haven't. And I haven't either. These are their own reward.
 

 

Makes about a dozen cookies

Adapted from Good Food magazine

 

What you’ll need:

200g dark chocolate

2 tbsp butter
1 egg
¼ cup sugar
¾ cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
About a cup of Nutella

How to:

1. Preheat the oven to 170°C.

2. Melt the chocolate and butter together.

3. Whisk the egg and sugar till light and fluffy.

4. Stir the flour and baking powder together. Sieve it in batches into the egg mixture. Chill the dough for 30 minutes to firm it up.

5. Now for the tough part, make 2 inch balls out of the batter and roll it into a fat little circle. Spoon the Nutella into the centre and fold it up like a gujiya. Try to ball the batter into a little bit of a circle so that it bakes into a cookie shape.

Note: As you know, as I repeatedly say, there’s no great value in making food very pretty. It’s best to focus on making it delicious. This cookie is going to be a gorgeous, deep chocolate beauty and nobody is going to judge you if it’s not a perfect circle.

Try to work the Nutella in the best you can, the more you can fit in, the better the cookie will be. Don’t worry about getting the shape perfect. I started out trying to make a dimsum sort of shape but I wasn’t able to work that one out so I picked this half moon instead. Eventually I’d manipulate the half moon into a sort of circle but you can see the cookies aren’t perfectly round even in the end.

6. Seal your little chocolate dimsums and refrigerate them again for about 10 – 20 minutes.

7. Plonk the cookies on a greased baking tray and bake for 10 minutes.

8. Let cool completely before devouring.

  

 

PEANUT CHUTNEY AND THE DILEMMAS OF ONLINE SHOPPING

“Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake.”
― Napoleon Bonaparte

 

Since I'm in office pretty much the entire day on weekdays and hate shopping malls, the advent of online shopping has saved me from the shame of having to dress in tunics made of A4 sheets. The big problems with online shopping are of course that (a) you haven't really seen what you're buying, and (b) you may not want to share your debit/credit card details with every random website out there. Since I've already burnt my fingers on a lot of e-stores I thought I'd share the fruits of my (expensively procured) wisdom.

 

The Good

 

Bhane: Gorgeous, simple, largely pure cotton and entirely made in India, Bhane has rightfully been called India's answer to Gap. I'm in love with the superior quality, the functionality of design, friendly customer care and adorable packaging. I mean these guys actually use normal people for models! How can you not love them? Cash on delivery available.

 

Limeroad: A wide range of clothes, jewelry and home decor items at reasonable prices. The photos are accurate and the delivery quick. Cash on delivery available.

 

Gilt: This site has great deals on super luxurious brands like Valentino, Chanel and Hermes along with those a rung or two lower like Kate Spade, Trina Turk etc. They host flash sales with a limited number of items, the site is easy to use and the product photos/descriptions accurate. Credit Card payment only.

 

Foodesto: A good resource for most basic kitchen needs, this site has a good range of food, serving dishes and baking paraphernalia. I got my measuring spoons and cups from here and though its a little pricey they are great quality. Cash on delivery available.

 

Craftgully: A great resource for crafting materials including scrapbooking paper, beads, paints, washi tape and a whole lot more. Very useful if you have a DIY project on your to do list but don't have the time to hunt down crochet tape in the right shade of lilac. Craft gully probably has it in lilac, pale blue, pastel green and black. Cash on delivery available.

 

The Bad

 

Rooja: A strange smorgasbord of clothes and accessories, what you see here is probably not what you'll get. The photos are plenty misleading, you can expect a call a few weeks after your order informing you that your stuff is out of stock and even if you manage to get your things, the quality is nothing to throw a party about.

 

Done by None: Most of the products look tacky. I managed to find something I liked, placed my order and got a call 2 weeks later telling me half my order was out of stock. I also learned (the hard way) that their shoe sizes aren't standard and their interpretation of size 39 is atleast 1 size smaller than what my foot is used to. Anyone wear size 7 shoes? I have a pair of brand new baby blue ballet shoes for you.

 

Shop In On It: The usual bright baubles, moustache earrings, cluster necklaces and plastic bits and bobs. Nothing new or particularly exciting.

 

Looking Forward to

 

Catbird NYC: I'm in love with these delicate designs.

 

Zansaar: Hosts a really wide range of imported kitchenware with almost everything an amateur cook or baker could need. I've just placed an order for a candy thermometer and am waiting to see how this turns out.

 

Page 99: Every avid reader knows that books can be incredibly, physically beautiful. This site reminds me of walking into a dusty old bookstore filled with written treasures. An absolutely jaw dropping collection.

 
This post has been far longer and more complicated than what I usually come up with so I'll offset it with a really simple peanut chutney recipe. You probably already have all ingredients in your kitchen already and I'll eat my laptop if it takes you more than 10 minutes to make. A nicely lively chutney that you can use as a dip, sandwich spread, spread for rolls or even a thick salad dressing.

 

Serves 4

Recipe adapted from Good Food magazine

 What you’ll need:

1 cup peanuts (without that annoying skin they tend to have)
3 -4 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp garlic paste
1 tsp red chilli powder
Salt to taste
Juice of 1 lemon

How to:

Throw everything into mixer and pulse till you have a chutney. If you need to, add a little more olive oil to make a smooth paste. Check the taste and see if you want to add anything more. 

VANILLA CAKE WITH TEA AND VANILLA INFUSED CARAMEL SAUCE

"Good food and a warm kitchen are what makes a house a home." - Rachael Ray

 

 

 This article (Your Lifestyle Has Already Been Designed)and its hypothesis that our lifestyles are decided for us has been doing the social network rounds. The basic theme is that our 9 to 9 work life makes us vulnerable to stress and monotony which we try to relieve through conspicuous consumption. While I'm broadly on board with the thought process and have often found myself saying something similar, I don't know if I agree as wholeheartedly as I used to.

 

The career corporate lawyer who runs marathons while raising 2 kids, the bureaucrat who writes fiction, the feckless rake who delights in cooking for his younger sister and many, many others I meet or hear of make me believe we need to acknowledge the agency we have in our lives. It's very sensible to recognize the mistakes we're likely to make but I'm not sure I appreciate the finality with which the author makes these doomsday predictions.

 

That ads, models and corporate culture are all peddling their wares is an unfortunate reality but to decide we won't be able to resist is so pessimistic. People are bundles of contradictions, it's one of the few things I actually like about us. There are many out there fighting the good fight, refusing to agree with conventional wisdom or falling prey to its pitfalls. It's easy enough to blame large corporations and their insidious ways but if you know what they're doing, why play along?

 

For everyone who decides they're going to do what is right in the face of a society that expects them to go left and for everyone who agrees that they do indeed have a choice, there is this rebellious little vanilla cake. Sure it's vanilla, but using granulated sugar gives a little crunch to the otherwise plain, buttery body. And to top it off a deeply fragrant, tea and vanilla infused caramel sauce.

 

Bet you didn't expect that.

 

Serves 8

Recipe Adapted From www.sweet-lab.com

What you’ll need:

For the cake:

2 cups flour

1 cup butter
½ cup sugar (granulated)
½ cup light brown sugar
4 eggs + 1 egg yolk
2 tbsp vanilla essence
1 vanilla bean
1 tsp baking powder
¾ tsp salt

For the Black Tea Caramel Sauce:

¾ cup heavy cream

2 black tea bags (I used Earl Grey)
½ cup sugar
2 tbsp water
3 -4 tbsp butter

 

How to:

1. To make the cake, preheat the oven to 180°C, grease a bundt pan with butter and set aside.

2. Mix the butter and sugar (brown and granulated) very well, till the mix is fluffy and light. Add the eggs one by one (and the yolk) till the batter is well beaten.

3. Take your vanilla bean, slit it down the middle with sharp knife and scrape out the fragrant, miniscule black grains. Add the innards of the bean and the vanilla essence to the batter.

4. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt and add in batches to the cake batter till everything’s well mixed.

5. Transfer batter to bundt pan and put the pan into the oven for about 40-45 minutes or till the cake passes the toothpick test.

6. You can make the black tea caramel while the cake is baking. Pour the heavy cream into a small saucepan and let it simmer. Once heated through, throw the tea bags and the remains of the vanilla pod in the cream and cover with a lid. Let it sit for about half an hour.

7. Remove the tea from one of the teabags and mix it in the cream. Discard the vanilla and the other tea bag.

8. By this time your cake is probably through. Remove it from the oven and put it aside to cool completely.

9. Heat the water and sugar in a heavy bottomed pan and cook till the sugar starts to darken.

Note: Don’t let the caramel get too dark because it’ll start to get bitter and the tea will also add bitterness - too sauce might get too harsh for the soft vanilla cake.

10. Pour the cream into the caramel and whisk briskly. Add the butter and keep whisking. Take off the stove and let the caramel cool.

11. Once both the caramel and the cake are at room temperature, pour the caramel all over the cake.

 

 

MOROCCAN CAULIFLOWER AND ALMOND SOUP

Cauliflower is just a cabbage with a college education - Mark Twain

I've written about it before and I'm probably going to write about it again but's really very, very important to have a hobby. I can't think of any one thing that's given me as much joy and comfort in the past two years as this blog. It gives my interests (writing and photography) a focused purpose and me a reason to regularly apply myself to them. I also get to cultivate a skill and spend my time better understanding the world of food and cooking. More than anything I always have something to look forward to and a happy diversion for when I'm stressed or low (which is happens with a regularity I've grown to accept).

 

Whether you consider yourself "creative" or not, I think every human finds solace in creating something from scratch, with your bare hands, with the help of pen and paper, a pot of paint or even a crochet needle. And now the internet holds enough space to afford each of us a little corner to put up what we come up with. I agree that there's too many people sharing too much about themselves but I think the complaint really is with the quality of content. Owning your hobby in public makes you accountable and motivates you to keep at it. It doesn't have to be perfect but we all need a little place to call completely our own. This tiny chunk of the virtual world is mine.

 

In support of everyone out there who's trying to do more than just drink the weekend away is this recipe for Moroccan Cauliflower Soup. Hearty, healthy and a great way to use up the cauliflower your sabziwala is currently swimming in.

 
 
 

Serves 4

Recipe adapted from Good Food magazine

What you’ll need:

1 head of cauliflower (cut into florets)
1 litre vegetable stock
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp black pepper
4 tbsp harissa
1 lemon
Handful of almonds (chopped into slivers)

Note: The quantity for the spices and harissa are only indicative – start with less and see if you need more as you go along.

How to:

1. Pour in the olive oil into a heavy bottomed pan. Fry the cumin for a minute or so and then add in the harissa paste. Cook for another couple of minutes and chuck in the cauliflower and stir it around till it browns lightly.

2. Pour in the vegetable stock, add cinnamon and some of the almonds. Cover and cook for 20 minutes.

3. By now your cauliflower should be soft. Blend the soup till smooth and taste. See if you want to add anything more.

 

4. Serve garnished with toasted almonds, a squeeze of lemon and some pepper.

 

RESTAURANT REVIEW: CHINA FARE, KHAN MARKET

For those who'll never get over Chinjabi

Restaurants like all public spaces are more than a simple sum of their parts. It isn’t just about adding up the quality of the food, the service and the décor. As every restaurateur and devoted patron knows, the brick and mortar of these spaces acts as a repository of memories, emotion and culture. If the place lasts long enough, its sense of identity becomes so strong, the feeling of its time so immediate, it rushes at you when you walk in through the door. China Fare has been around for a while.

 

 

Looks like

In the 7 years I’ve been going to Khan Market almost the whole market has changed. The only things keeping me from throwing myself into the Ship of Theseus conundrum are a couple of old stores, Chonas and China Fare. Absolutely nothing about this place has changed since I walked in for lunch as a litigation intern in my third year of law school. But there’s nothing that’s broken and nothing that really needs to be fixed. One wall has a soothing minimalistic lotus mural on lovely turquoise background and the other has a mirror. The place is basically a short corridor that can barely squeeze 2 tables in side by side, and there are always happy customers inside.

 

 

Tastes Like

I’ve never really had a taste for Chinese food, authentic or otherwise, but even my instinctive distaste doesn’t keep me from recognizing that China Fare is really owning the whole Chinese via Chandni Chowk act. The menu is all you would expect from a Chinese restaurant set up in the 80s with deep fried everything, chowmein, chop suey and sizzlers. My personal favourites include the over the top Roast Pork Chilly (Dry), the relatively calmer Chicken Noodle Soup and the crackling Chicken Spring Rolls. If you’re really hungry and nostalgic dive into the American Chop Suey with a sunny side egg up top.

Nuanced and delicate are not words that come to mind at China Fare, this is just a wallop of in your face backed by the weight of sophisticated ingredients like ketchup and soya sauce.

 

 

Feels Like

You could easily condescend towards this little Chinjabi hole in the wall but that’d be missing the forest for the trees. China Fare is an institution people have been turning up to for years. They manage to keep their tables full even without a liquor license. Its every bowl of generously salted food is a throwback to times when upcoming restaurants proudly displayed Manchurian on their menus. Maybe the next generation will grow up eating authentic Chinese food. If they never know our interpretation, that’ll be a damn shame.

Should you go: I say yes!

Vegetarian Options: Yes
Liquor License: No
Smoking Area: No
Address: 27A, Khan Market, New Delhi, India
Phone: 011 24618602, +91 9811705505

RITU DALMIA'S ALMOND BISCOTTI

"I'm a better person when I have less on my plate." - Elizabeth Gilbert

 

 I was complaining, as usual, to a friend much wiser than me. I realize I'm not much of a benchmark for wisdom but don't let that undermine her, she is in fact very wise. I was whining about how lazy I am and recently I've pretty much given up, put my feet up and taken to watching as deadlines swoosh by my face. It's gotten so bad I was thinking of going on some sort of detox diet/juice cleanse.

 

Thankfully, I spoke to a more intelligent being before forking over a ton of cash for some ick green juice. It's kind of silly to think of our bodies or minds as mechanical objects that will perform at the same level consistently. Add the mental and physical abuse we put ourselves through and it's a miracle my body runs at all. When I think of the millions of minutiae that people consider impacts us and our behavior, diet of course but also exposure to sunlight, hydration and as per some, the phases of the moon, I guess I should learn to accept some of my lazy ass phases.

 

During the process of accepting this laziness I even managed to bake these surprisingly simple, low sugar, no butter biscotti. Perfect for pairing with a hot cup of coffee and a good book.

Makes about a dozen biscotti
Recipe adapted from Ritu Dalmia's Travelling Diva

 

What you’ll need:

150g flour
150 g almonds

75 g icing sugar
1 tsp cinnamon powder
1 tsp baking powder
3 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 -2 tbsp orange zest

How to:

1. Toast the almonds in a dry pan and chop into slivers.

2. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Mix all the dry ingredients together in a bowl. In another bowl, whisk together 2 eggs, vanilla and orange zest.

3. Pour the egg mixture into the flour and knead with your hands. Knead till you have a sticky dough – add a little flour to your hands if it’s getting TOO sticky.

4. Roll the dough into a ball and split the ball into quarters. Roll the quarter into a rectangular log.

5. Place on a baking tray with parchment paper or which is buttered down. Brush down the logs with the last beaten egg and bake for about 40 minutes or till golden.

 

 

6. Cool for about 20 minutes and then slice the loaf into biscuits. Don’t let the loaves cool for too long because you won’t be able to slice them without their crumbling.

 

7. Place the slices back on the baking tray and bake for 20 minutes (watching carefully to make sure the biscotti isn’t burning).

 

 

 

8. Remove the biscuits from the oven and let cool completely.

Note: Once they’re cool, store them in an airtight container because they’ll get soggy outside.

 

 

COOKBOOK REVIEW: TRAVELLING DIVA BY RITU DALMIA

A man at a dinner table with friends and family never really gets old - Italian Proverb quoted from Ritu Dalmia's Travelling Diva

 

I walked into Bahri Sons in Khan Market looking for Ritu Dalmia's Italian Khana but they only had Travelling Diva so I bought it instead. Published by Hachette in 2012 Travelling Diva is Ms. Dalmia's fifth cookbook and covers her favorite recipes from her travels across the world. The result is an unexpected collection of recipes from Bhindi Bhojpuri to Potato Roesti to Tzatziki. While Ms. Dalmia's wide range of recipes are a lot of fun, what you don't end up with is a coherent anthology of choices within one type of cuisine, making it hard to plan a whole meal with just this book. The recipes span between beginner to mid level proficiency and don't require much in the way of pantry paraphernalia.

 

Ms. Dalmia shines when adding a twist to classics, such as her glorious Prawn Biryani and Beet Raita or when combining exciting ingredients together like in her Summer Chicken with Coffee Glaze. On the other hand some of the recipes lack luster and are almost too simplistic like Watermelon and Feta Skewers or Frozen Mango and Yoghurt Cubes (puree mango, mix with yoghurt, freeze in ice tray doesn't qualify as a recipe).

 

Lovely, classic Almond Biscotti in my baking tray

I loved the personal travel experience Ms. Dalmia puts in before each recipe and only wish she'd shared more. Also very helpful is the section titled "My Perfect Kitchen" in which she talks about must have ingredients and other pantry essentials. Unfortunately while Ms. Dalmia includes many garnishes I loved, including some handwritten recipes, there are some basics which could have been improved on. For example not every dish has a photo, something that can really discourage a novice cook. The photos are a bit dark and the food not as well styled as I would have expected. Another major inconvenience is the way ingredient measurements are set out sometimes in grams and other times in cup measures within the same recipe needing me to pull out my scale and my cup measures for each recipe.

 

While trying some of the recipes I found more success with the savoury dishes than the sweet, the Italian Apple Ring Cake was hard and chewy, the Red Velvet dry and the Orange Chocolate Pots didn't really have enough orange flavor despite my using more orange than the recipe called for. On the other hand, the following went off incredibly well and I've covered each (with my own inputs and in my own words) on this blog:

 

Summer Chicken with Coffee Glaze and Hung Yoghurt Sauce

Prawns with Spinach and Raisins

Prawn Biryani

Beetroot Raita

Almond Biscotti (coming up soon!)

Carrot Cake

 

All in all, Travelling Diva is worth purchasing at INR 499, the recipes are relatively easy and cover an exciting range for someone looking to experiment. Ms. Dalmia's voice is light, her personal anecdotes charming and the format very pleasant. I've got Chicken Balls with Tamarind Glaze, Prawn with Orange and Basil Marinade, Chicken with Lime and Thyme and Fried Salmon Patties on my personal "to cook" list and will be trying them out as soon as I get a chance.

 

Yeah. These Orange Chocolate Pots just didn't work out.

RITU DALMIA'S SUMMER CHICKEN WITH COFFEE GLAZE AND HUNG YOGHURT SAUCE

 "Too little is it considered, while we gaze on aristocratic beauty, how much good food, soft lying, warm wrapping, ease of mind, have to do with the attractions which command our admiration." Samuel Lover

 

I read somewhere recently that to be really good at something you need to be at it for 10,000 hours. That's around 417 days, a little more than year without sleep, food or other such little distractions. It doesn't seem like a lot of time but I'm pretty sure I've managed to turn 27 without making a large dent in my 10,000 hour requirement for any of the things I do. I know I write about it often but it's because I think about it often, am I really spending my time on the important things? The things that'll add up and count when it's time to count. I can't be sure. I doubt I'll ever be.

 

But one of the things I'm sure of is that one of the things I'd like to be really good at is cooking. This unusual and totally exciting Summer Chicken with Coffee Glaze and Yoghurt Sauce has added 35 minutes to my 10,000 hour tank. Sweet, tangy and with deep coffee notes which perfectly complement the thickened minty, yoghurt sauce. If you're pressed for time skip the chicken and just make the yoghurt sauce as a dip.

 

 

Serves 2

Recipe Adapted From Ritu Dalmia's Travelling Diva

What you’ll need:

½ kg boneless chicken

For the marinade:

½ cup strong black coffee

2 tbsp orange jam
2 -3 tbsp olive oil
2-3 tbsp lemon juice
Salt
Pepper

For the sauce:

1 tsp garlic paste

2 -3 tbsp orange jam
2 cups hung curd
Mint leaves
Salt
Pepper

How to:

1. To make the marinade, plunk together the coffee, orange jam and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper.

2. Beat the chicken with the marinade. I’m kidding, don’t beat the chicken but when marinating meat a wise man once told me the meat should know it’s been marinated. So work it in there and don’t bother being gentle. Leave the chicken in the fridge for atleast an hour but ideally up to overnight.

3. To cook the chicken, you can either grill it or stick it in a pan with some olive oil and on low heat. Let the chicken cook slowly, brushing occasionally with the marinade till you’re sure it’s done.

4. For the sauce, mix the sauce ingredients together and set aside.

5. Once your chicken is done, pile it on a plate and add the sauce on top. Garnish with mint leaves and serve hot.