Get togethers

Get togethers

Living in places  replete with scenic beauty and pleasant climes has its many advantages. Apart from keeping mind and soul calm and peaceful , it gives a good reason to plan get togethers with friends and like minded people as often as possible.

     Last weekend and today were such gatherings and of course food had to be an important part of it. And when its home made food , it becomes even better , because at one go we get to taste different snacks made by different people and the beauty lies not just in the great taste but also in the variety and different flavors.

   Last weekend , we were a group of some fifty men , women , boys and girls , the venue was a beautiful hillside and the time was late in the evening when the sun was set and temperatures were cool.

        We ordered Biryani from a local restaurant and got home made snacks. Since most people were vegetarians , the snacks were kept vegetarian to be on the safer side.The list of the snacks began with  MTR rava idli with delicious coconut chutney to bread pakoras with spicy tomato ketchup , dal wadas with tangy peanut chutney and then finally home made namkeen made by yours truly . Such simple and homely tastes followed by spicy Biryani and then the dessert which was  Kalakand again from a  near by sweet shop.

       Accompanying all these chatpata snacks were chatpati gupshup and two rounds of tambola with just two emergency lanterns supplying all the light . Needless to say that it was such a fun affair , that it confirms the fact that the simple pleasures of life don’t cost money but give oodles of joy and contentment.

     Last evening , the ladies of my neighbourhood decided to have a evening party today , when the cool sea breeze uplifts the spirits and lowers the hot temperatures. We all picked up our choice of making a sweet or a savoury and what a spread it was. The children who had been playing kho kho and other such games and had built up a gigantic appetite  were treated to a wide spread of fusilli pasta both in tomato and white sauce , aloo bonda , dal wada, chilled cheese sandwiches , french fries , cupcakes ( you can guess who made these by now ), jalebis and chilled pepsi and mirinda as the beverage. There was of course lots of light banter and mild gossip which I feel is a good digestive aid to such heavy snacks.

      Well the long and short of the whole article is to highlight the importance of such gatherings with friends and neighbours because of the simple reason that they rejuvenate the mind , calm the frayed nerves and of course satiate the hungry stomach with  lipsmacking delicious home made snacks.

     Another benefit of such gatherings where there are children of all age groups is to give them a supervised platform to interact with others and also to wean them away from their perpetual addiction to gizmos.The need of the hour is to encourage friendly human interaction which these gatherings offer.

Lemonade

Makes 4 glasses

What makes this lemonade different from the others ? Read on to see.

We begin by taking two lemons , a little bigger  sized than walnuts and cut them into quarters and remove the seeds.

Then we take a handful of fresh mint leaves , 10 grams to be precise and wash and rinse them.

Next comes 4 tablespoons of powdered sugar , basically one tablespoon per glass , you could reduce or increase to your taste.

Measure one litre water in a blender jar , add a few ice cubes , follow with lemon quarters  mint leaves and one teaspoon salt or to taste.

Now you have to blend them for not more than 5 seconds , its almost like an on and off thing. If you blend any more than that, the lemonade will become bitter.

Strain into a jug and enjoy the most refreshing and simplest drink that ever could be.

Bake sale

Every Friday at the community library we have a “bake sale” , wherein the ladies get home baked cakes , cup cakes , cookies , doughnuts etc and sell to the children who throng the place awaiting the goodies.

 The children come with their pocket money in cute and fancy purses and buy the stuff.The smile on the faces accompanied by a “Thank you” is worth all the effort put in the kitchen to bake the goodies.Today was my turn at the “Bake sale” and this is what I baked and sold.

Vanilla muffins with flavoured sprinklers and choclate chip shortbread

Flapjacks, Chick pea flour cookies and chocolate fudge.

Lauki Biryani / Bottlegourd Biryani
serves three- four 

I admit , it’s a quick fix meal , nothing exotic but tastes pretty good and not much effort in cooking if grating the “Lauki / Bottlegourd “is not a big deal for you.

Here is how you can make “Lauki / Bottlegourd  Biryani “ in a matter of minutes.

Ingredients for Lauki/ Bottlegourd Biryani:

1.    2 cups grated and squeezed lauki ( reserve the water to cook the rice)

2.    One cup freshly blended tomato puree

3.    One large onion sliced thin

4.     One heaped teaspoon ginger garlic paste

5.     ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder

6.     One level teaspoon Kashmiri red chilli powder

7.     Salt to taste or two level teaspoons

8.     4-6 tablespoons refined oil

9.     A few mixed spices like cumin seeds , cloves , cinnamon and black cardamom
10. one cup long grain rice

Method for Lauki Biryani:

1.    Soak one cup of long grain rice for atleast half an hour.

2.    Coarsely grate the Lauki / Bottlegourd , squeeze out the water and keep it aside.

3.    Warm the oil and add the spices keeping the flame on medium , and as soon as the spices change colour , add the onions.

4.    Stir fry the  onions till they turn golden brown , add the ginger garlic paste and cook for another two minutes.

5.     Add the turmeric and red chilli powder , stir for a few seconds and follow by the tomato puree.

6.    Measure the reserved water of the lauki and add more water to make one cup of water and add to the pan.

7.    Add the grated Lauki followed by the rice and the salt , cover and cook on low flame till done.

8.     Serve with raita or just plain yogurt.

Minty cottage cheese dumplings in tangy tomato sauce /  Hara paneer Kofta
Serves 4-5 

There is something so fresh about mint that whenever I use it for my cooking or just simply taking the leaves off the stalks, the whole kitchen is filled with such invigorating freshness . I love mint chutneys and it goes so well with yogurt in case you are making raita or buttermilk.

     I have used a little amount of the two herbs which I feel have a magical effect on any recipe. It blends so well with cottage cheese and the pishta green colour of the dumplings is so irresistible that one can polish off quite a few just while frying them for the main recipe.

    Mashed cottage cheese blended with fresh herbs , deep fried and immersed in a tangy red tomato sauce and savoured with plain rice or better still pooris or simply rotis , a chatpati potato curry and boondi raita is my definition of a feast .

   Here is how you can treat yourself to a delicious meal especially during the hot summer months when one has little appetite.

Ingredients:

1.   400 grams cottage cheese

2.   10 grams each of mint leaves and coriander leaves ( about a handful each)

3.   1 tablespoon grated ginger

4.   1 small onion chopped fine and one small green chilli

5.   200 ml tetra pack of tomato puree ( I used kissan)

6.   250 – 300 ml water

7.   One large onion minced fine with two tablepsoons water

8.   ¼ th teaspoon turmeric powder

9.   Salt to taste

10.                1 level teaspoon black pepper powder

11.                  Three fourth teaspoon roasted cumin seed powder

12.                 2 tablespoons cornflour

Method:

1.  Place the cottage cheese along with the fresh herbs in a food processor or the regular mixer jar and blend till the cottage cheese crumbles and mixes well with the herbs , the cottage cheese will resemble bread crumbs at this stage.

2.   Place the mixture in a flat dish and mix and mash with the ginger ,onion , green chilli and cornflour till the mixture sticks together into a dough.

3.   Make balls a little bigger than a walnut , roll them on breadcrumbs and refrigerate for about half an hour.

4.   You can make bread crumbs in a jiffy with a few rusk slices  ( I use Britannia) , just crush them with the kitchen rolling pin , will take a few seconds and collect in a plate.

5.   Deep fry the cottage cheese balls on high flame for just about half a minute till golden brown. Remember the dumplings are very soft and have to be cooked on high flame so that they cook fast and don’t disintegrate in the oil , in case that happens , roll them I some cornflour before putting them in the oil.Place the dumplings in a flat serving dish.

6.   For the sauce / curry , take a medium onion , mince with a few tablespoons of water and cook in oil till brown on a medium flame. you could season the oil with a teaspoon of cumin seeds before that.

7.   Stir in the turmeric and follow by the tomato water mixture.

8.   Dilute the tomato puree with the water and pour the solution into the pan , give a stir, let it boil well.

9.   Season with salt, black pepper and cumin powder.

10.                Pour the sauce over the dumplings / koftas which have been arranged in a flat dish.

11.                At first it might seem as if the sauce is too much  , but within a few minutes the koftas / dumplings will soak the sauce.

12.                Serve hot with rice or like I did , with pooris.

Potato and peas curry  / Aaloo Matar curry

This quantity of "Potato pea curry" is sufficient for six adults.

Ingredients:

1.  600 grams or six medium potatoes scrubbed and cleaned

2.  300 grams peas ( I have used frozen here , but you could use fresh if available )

3.  Four medium onions

4.   Five medium tomatoes

5.   One tablespoon ginger garlic paste

6.   Two teaspoons coriander powder

7.   ½ teaspoon turmeric powder

8.   One level teaspoon kashmiri red chilli powder

9.   500 ml water

10.          Salt to taste or about two level teaspoons

11.          5-7 tablespoons refined oil

12.           A few spices like a teaspoon cumin seeds , one inch cinnamon stick , a few cloves and two badi elaichi / black cardamom

13.          Fresh coriander leaves to garnish

14.          ¼ teaspoon garam masala

Method:

1.  Warm the oil in a pressure cooker and add the mixed spices .

2.  While the spices change the colour in about a minute , puree the onions with a little water.

3.  Add the onion puree into the pressure cooker and stir fry till the onion turn brown and begin to leave oil on the sides.

4.   Puree the tomatoes along with the ginger garlic paste in the meanwhile and add to the onion mixture.

5.   Stir fry on medium flame till the mixture begins to leave oil on the sides.

6.  Add the coriander powder , turmeric and the kashmiri red chilli powder, give a stir for about a minute.

7.  Tumble in the chopped potatoes and toss them and stir fry along with the masala paste for about 5-7 minutes. If you are using fresh peas , then you could add them along with the potatoes and stir fry.

8.  Add 500 ml of water and the frozen peas.

9.  Cover the pressure cooker and give atleast 2-3 whistles till the potatoes are done. Season with salt.

10.          Garnish with coriander leaves and sprinkle the garam masala.