Basic Chia jar

Ingredients

3 tablespoons chia seeds

2 tablespoons hemp seeds

3 tablespoons chopped pecans and walnuts

3 tablespoons any fruit (blueberry, strawberry, mango, banana)

1/3 cup coconut milk

1/3 cup water

Mix all dry ingredients in a cup or jar.

Pour coconut milk+water. 

Stir so the fruit and chia don't clump together.

Refrigerate for at least 6 hours.

Basic Muesli jar

Ingredients: 

1/4 cup muesli 

1 tablespoon hemp seeds

2 tablespoons chia seeds

2 tablespoons chopped pecans and walnuts

3 tablespoons any fruit (blueberry, strawberry, mango, banana)

1/3 cup milk

1/3 cup water

Mix all dry ingredients in a cup or jar.

Pour milk+water. 

Stir so the fruit and chia don't clump together.

Refrigerate for at least 6 hours.

Rhengan Reveya

 Rhengan Reveya (Baby Aubergine and Potato Satay, rustic food from Gujarat)

Serves: 4-6
Recipe Level: Basic/Beginner to Medium
Spice Level: Medium
Serving Suggestion: With any Indian flat breads or with flavoured/steam cooked Rice

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Ingredients:
8-10 Baby Purple Eggplants, washed, dried
8-10 Baby Potatoes or 2 medium Potatoes, peeled and cut into bite sized pieces

For Tadka/Tempering:
½ tbsp Oil
1 tsp Cumin Seeds
¼ tsp Hing/Asafoetida

For the Stuffing & Marinating:
1/3 cup Roasted Peanuts, ground to fine powder
¾-1 tbsp Roasted Coriander Powder
½-¾ tsp Roasted Cumin Powder
1 tsp Cumin Seeds
1-1½ tsp Red Chilli Powder (Adjust acc to taste)
½ tsp Turmeric Powder
½ tsp Aamchur/Dry Mango Powder (Optional)
1-2 tsp Sugar
A big pinch of Hing/Asafoetida (Optional)
1 inch Ginger, peeled and grated
3 tbsp Coriander Leaves, finely chopped
2-3 tbsp Oil
Salt to taste

Rhengan Reveya

Method:

Grind roasted peanuts to fine powder and transfer it into a mixing bowl.

Mix in all dry spice powders one by one.

Next add grated ginger, finely chopped coriander leaves, salt to taste and oil and mix them well. You will get a crumbling mixture. Keep it aside till needed.

Make ‘+’ marked slits ¾th way on baby eggplants keeping their stems intact. Stuff the eggplants with prepared mixture. Make sure that you don’t break the eggplants while stuffing.

Once you have stuffed all the eggplants with mixture, add chopped potatoes to remaining stuffing and mix well so that potatoes are coated well.

Mix eggplants with potatoes and keep them aside to marinate for 5-10 minutes.

Heat oil in a pan and add cumin seeds and hing. When cumin starts to sizzle and turn golden red, mix in stuffed eggplants and potatoes.

Add about 1-1½ cups of boiling water and cover the lid. Reduce the heat to medium-low and let it cook undisturbed for 5 mins.

Open the lid after 5 mins and gentle mix all the vegetables. Add little more water if needed and cover and cook again for 10-15 minutes, mixing in between, till both eggplants and potatoes are cooked though.

Garnish with finely chopped coriander leaves and serve with steam cooked rice or Roties and enjoy this rustic, delicious Rhengan Reveya.

Baked tomato-ey gnocchi

Ingredients:

1 16 ounce package uncooked, potato gnocchi

Olive oil

1 medium white onion, diced

12 ounces sausage, diced or casing removed

4 cloves garlic, grated

2 teaspoons Italian seasoning or just oregano

1/2 cup pureed canned or fresh tomato

½ cup water

Salt

Black pepper

2 zucchini, diced 

1 cup frozen corn 

2 (packed) cups baby spinach, roughly chopped

½ cup grated parmesan cheese

1 ¼ to 1 ½ cups shredded mozzarella cheese or 8oz mozzarella thick slices 

Basil leaves, for garnish

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350°.

In an oven safe heavy bottom pan over medium heat drizzle in about 3 to 4 tablespoons of the olive oil.

Add in the diced white or yellow onion and saute for just a few minutes until softened, then add in the sausage, and using a wooden spoon or spatula, break it up a bit into a crumble. Saute together with the onion until the sausage is cooked through, about 4 or 5 minutes.

Next, add in the garlic, the Italian seasoning/oregano, and the red pepper flakes (if using), and stir to combine.

Once aromatic, add in the zucchini and corn and saute for 3-5 minutes.

Add crushed tomatoes along with the water, and stir to incorporate.

Allow to a simmer for just a couple of minutes, then turn off the heat and sprinkle in a couple of generous pinches of salt and black pepper (to taste), and stir in ¼ cup of the grated parmesan cheese.

Add the spinach and the uncooked potato gnocchi to the pan, and carefully fold the spinach and gnocchi into the sauce until well coated and combined, evening out the top a bit.

Next, sprinkle over top the rest of the parmesan cheese, followed by the mozzarella cheese. Place the gnocchi into the oven to bake, uncovered, for 30 minutes, until bubbly and golden-brown.

Instantpot Chole

Ingredients: 

Dry Chickpeas 1 cup (wash and soak for 4+ hours) 

Ajwain 1/2 tsp

Baking soda 1 pinch

Salt to taste

Garlic 5 pods, grated 

Ginger 2 tbsp, grated 

Cumin seeds, 1 tsp

Red chili powder 1/4 tsp

Coriander powder 1 tbsp

Chole masala 1 tbsp

Amchur powder 1/2 tsp

Steps:

1. Pressure cook chickpeas:

Pour water into instantpot base upto the 2 cup marking.

Take another steel vessel that fits inside the instantpot. Add the washed and soaked chickpeas and enough water to cover it fully, plus a little more.

Add ajwain, baking soda and salt.

On the instantpot press "manual", level "normal", for time press "+" until it gets to 60 minutes. 

Put the lid on and set to "sealing".

2. Make the tadka 

In a small pan heat oil, add cumin seeds. 

When they sizzle add grated ginger and garlic, red chilli powder, coriander powder, chole masala and amchur powder.

Saute until well mixed and the raw smell of ginger and garlic is dissipated.

3. Mix them

Pull the container with chickpeas out of the instantpot after natural pressure release.

Take aside a quarter of the cooked chickpeas and blend it using a mixer or hand blender.

Add the spices paste and mashed chickpeas back into the pot. Put it on the gas.

Add more water as needed, and mix it all together and heat up to create a gravy.

Sticky toffee pudding for A

After a recent trip to Gordon Ramsay's dinner buffet at a restaurant in Vegas, A came back raving about the Sticky Toffee pudding. He also found me a recipe for it which I recreated, and according to him it turned out quite close to the original. I can't comment on that aspect of it, but it was certainly very delicious!

5

Prep Time: 25 minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Total Time: 50 minutes

Yield: 8 servings

Ingredients

For the pudding:
• 1 cup medjool dates, pitted and chopped
• 3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tbsp espresso, cooled
• 3 large eggs
• 1 ¼ cup plain flour
• 3 ¼ tablespoons cocoa powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
For the toffee sauce:
• 1 cup double cream
• 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
• 1/3 cup unsalted butter
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt

Instructions

For the pudding:
1. Preheat the oven to 375F. Butter a sponge cake mold and line with parchment paper. Butter the parchment paper as well, ensuring that all the sides are properly covered. Instead of a sponge cake mold, 8 x 175ml-200ml pudding basins can be used as well.
2. Make espresso.
3. Place the dates, sugar and water in a saucepan and simmer gently for 10 minutes until the sugar has dissolved and the dates are soft. Let cool.
4. In a small bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In two batches, fold into the wet mixture with a spatula until just combined.
5. Blend dates in a Magic Bullet or similar food processor until smooth.
6. In a separate large bowl whisk together the dates, butter, vanilla and espresso. Add eggs and whisk again until well blended.
7. Carefully pour into the prepared baking dish of choice and bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick emerges fairly clean when inserted in the thickest part.
For the toffee sauce:
8. Place all the sauce ingredients into a saucepan and simmer, stirring frequently, until the butter and sugar have dissolved and the sauce is smooth. It should only take 2-3 minutes. Keep warm and give it a stir every once in a while to prevent a skin from forming on top.
9. When the pudding is cool enough to handle, but still warm, run a small knife along the sides, then invert onto a serving plate. Peel off the baking parchment. Pour a generous drizzle of warm toffee sauce over the puddings and serve immediately.

Butter Chicken Biryani

https://www.facebook.com/yourfoodlab/videos/1614632838854049/

Chicken: 300 grams/ 0.6 pounds
Ginger garlic paste: 1 tbsp
Hung Curd: 3 tbsp
Tomato puree: 1/2 cup
Corriander powder: 2 tbsp
Red chilli powder: 2 tbsp
Fried onion: handful
Sugar: 2 tbsp
Kaju paste: 1 tbsp
Salt
Oil
Corriander, mint: 1/2 cup


Cinnamon
Cloves
Pepper
Cardamom
Add chicken, saute, add water, cover and let cook

Layer vessel with potatoes (so rice doesn't stick to the bottom)
Add par boiled rice
Chicken
Rice
Fried onion
Mint, corriander
Ghee
Seal with dough