Lemongrass Infused Thai Soup (Tom-Kha)

The nip of fall is in the air and the chill of winter is not too far away. The warmth of soup goes really well with the cold nights. The recipe I am going to share with you is based on the famous Thai soup Tom-Kha. Interestingly I had Tom-Kha for the first time not in a Thai restaurant but at the food court in our local REI sports store.

Since all the ingredients have become readily available it is hassle-free to make it at home.

Ingredients

1. 200gms boneless chicken cut into cubes
2. 8 button mushrooms sliced
3. 1 medium carrot cut into cubes
4. 1” Thai ginger
5. 1 stalk lemongrass
6. Rind of one lemon
7. 2 tbsp. lemon juice 
8. 2 tbsp. chopped coriander greens
9. 1 tbsp. chopped green onions
10. 1 can coconut milk
11. Salt to taste

Procedure

Rub the chicken cubes with salt and set aside. Remove the external covering of the lemongrass and slice the stalk. Julienne the Thai ginger (cut into thin strips) and smash it in a mortar and pestle to get maximum flavor.

Boil chicken pieces in a small pan with 2 cups of water. Wait till the chicken cubes are tender. Remove any scum from the top.

In a separate pan heat 5 cups of water and bring it to a boil. Now add one by one all the herbs like smashed ginger, lemongrass and lemon rind. simmer till the water becomes fragrant. Now add mushroom slices and carrot cubes to it. Sprinkle salt and let it cook for 3-4 minutes.

Add the boiled chicken pieces along with its stock. Reduce the heat and slowly pour coconut milk to it. Add all seasoning like lemon juice and salt. Finally sprinkle chopped green onions and coriander leaves.

Serve hot.

Mutton Chaap

The other day some of us were discussing the best compliment we got as a cook. One of my biggest appreciator is my husband, however, each time I made his favorite chaap, he’d say he loved it, but would always trail that sentence with a “…but”. He would still head to his favorite chaap restaurant in Kolkata when we went there, as if it’s something he really doesn’t get at home.

This has always been a challenge to me, a challenge that was hard for me to break  because the “healthy eating” person in me would never allow me to pour all the oil and simmer in it for 3 hours.

However, that “healthy eating” person one day relented to the challenge and went full force into making the original chaap. Let’s me say I did win the challenge :)

Ingredients

1. 2 lbs. mutton chops
2. 1/2 cup raw papaya paste
3. 1 cup plain yogurt (curd)
4. 1 tbsp. ginger paste
5. 1 tbsp. garlic paste
6. 1 tsp. dry red chili paste
7. 1 tsp. turmeric powder
8. 1 tsp. shahi garam masala powder
9. 2 tbsp. poppy seed paste (posto bata)
10. 2 tbsp. cashew paste
11. 200 gm. clarified butter (Ghee)
12. 1/2 cup vegetable oil
13. 1 tsp. rose water
14. 1 tbsp. sugar
15. Salt

Procedure

You need to get mutton (goat meat) chop pieces to make chaap. In Kolkata you can just let the butcher know and he will make the chops ready for you. Outside your homeland, you need to specifically instruct the butcher to break the chops with the broad side of their flat knife. Otherwise use your metal meat tenderizer to flatten the chops.

In a wide dish marinate the meat with raw papaya  paste and a spoonful of yogurt. Papaya paste acts as a natural meat tenderizer. Leave it for 3-4 hrs.

Now wash the chops and pat them dry.In a mixing bowl mix yogurt with all the wet(ginger+garlic+ red chili+cashew+poppy seed) and dry (turmeric+garam masala) spices. Season the mixture with salt and sugar.

Rub this spice mixture well on both sides of the chops. Allow it to rest for half an hour.

Heat oil and ghee in a wide frying pan till it melts. Now reduce the heat and arrange the mutton chops in a single layer. Cook it covered on very low heat for about 3hrs.  Frequently remove the cover and mix the spices. Fry the chops till both sides turn golden brown.

Sprinkle rose water over it and keep it covered till you serve. Enjoy with Biryani or laccha paratha.

Mutton Awadhi Biryani in Microwave

This mildly-spicy Biriyani is one of our favorite. Making biriyani sometimes becomes a headache because of the complex procedure of giving dum (air-sealed, low heat cooking). This easier version is almost as good in taste, but way easier to make.

Ingredients

1. 1 kg mutton( Goat Meat ) cut into medium sized pieces
2. 500gms. long grain basmati rice washed and soaked for 30 minutes 
3. 1 medium red onion cut into thick slices
4. 1 inch ginger bruised
5. 6,7 cloves of garlic crushed
6. 1 inch cinnamon stick
7. 4,5 cloves
8. 3,4 green cardamom
9. 2,3 black cardamom
10. 10-15 black pepper corns
11. 1 small piece of mace (Javitri )
12. 5 dry whole red chili 
13. 1 tsp. sahi jeera
14. 3,4 bay leaves
15. 1 tbsp. sugar
16. Salt to taste
17. 1tsp. shahi garam masala powder
18. 1tsp. rose water 
19. 1/2 cup hung curd or thick plain yogurt
20. 2 + 2 tbsp. ghee or clarified butter

Procedure

Marinate mutton pieces with thick curd, salt and sugar. Let it rest for an hour.

Wrap all the spices (3-14) in a rectangular muslin cloth and tie up all four corners together to make a pouch.

In a heavy bottom pan add 2 tbsp. ghee and allow it to melt. Add the marinated meat morsels to it and sear them on high flame till they turn light brown.

Now pour about a litre of lukewarm water to it. Once the water starts boiling drop the muslin pouch to it. Cover and simmer till the mutton becomes tender. Check and adjust the water level if required.

Skim off any scum that rises to the surface and separate the meat pieces from the stock with a slotted spoon. Keep them aside.

Squeeze the muslin bag firmly to extract all the spicy juice from it and then discard the bag. Now strain the mutton stock to get a clear juice.

Take a deep microwave safe bowl and grease the inner walls with 2tbsp. ghee. Put the drained rice along with 850ml. of strained mutton-stock and mutton-pieces. Adjust salt and mix them well.

Cook uncovered on high power for 12 minutes. Sprinkle garam masala powder and  one spoon of rose water over it. Stir once again.

Cook it covered for another 24 minutes.

Remove the lid and fluff it with a fork. Give a 5 minutes standing time before you serve.

Chicken Reshmi Kebab

Summer in Pacific Northwest is precious as it is over before it starts. However, it’s gorgeous as long as it lasts. No one can complain about clear skies and 17 hour days. However, late sunset means it’s harder to get kids out of the swimming pools and have their dinner. So we sometimes resort to making our dinner by the poolside. Our community has gas grills along side the pools that help a lot.
This chicken reshmi kebab recipe can be executed both in gas grills, electric ovens and combination microwave ovens.

Ingredients

1. 1lb. chicken boneless pieces cut into thick strips or cubes
2. 1/2 cup thick plain yogurt (curd)
3. 2tbsp. lemon juice
4. 1 tsp. red chili powder
5. 1/2 tsp. black pepper powder
6. 1tsp. roasted coriander powder
7. 1 tsp. Bengali garam masala powder
8. 2tbsp. lightly roasted chick pea flour (Besan)
9. 1tbsp. sugar
10. Salt to taste
11. 1-2 tsp. clarified butter (Ghee)
12. In a grinder make a paste of the following
1. 4,5 cloves garlic
2. 2,3 green chilies
3. 1tsp. cumin seed
4. 1 tsp. poppy seed
5. 2 black cardamoms

Procedure

In a mixing bowl take all the wet and dry spices and mix them thoroughly. Season the mixture with salt and sugar. Taste and adjust accordingly.
Marinate the chicken strips with this spice mixture and let it rest for 3-4 hrs. In summer days keep it in the refrigerator.
 
If you are using wooden skewers then pre-dip them in water for 30mins so that they don’t catch fire in the oven.
For electric oven preheat your oven at 350F. Skewer the chicken strips and brush with ghee. You might want to alternate chicken pieces with bell-pepper (capsicum) and onion. For electric oven grill for about 20-25 minutes turning the skewer frequently and basting with oil/ghee.

For combination microwave ovens put it on micro+grill combination mode and cook it for 10 minutes on each side.
If you have a barbeque grill put the kebabs on the grill, use medium heat and cook for 10 minutes with frequent turning and basting as mentioned above. At the end you might want to higher the heat/flame to bring in a slightly charred effect.
Serve with some onion rings or your favorite chutney.

Chital Maacher Muithya

Chital maacher muithya is made because though Chital fish’s belly is tasty and oily and can be used in curries, the back is too bony to be eaten otherwise. So folks scrape out this back flesh and make fish balls out of them, which is called the Muithya. With time this has gained popularity as an exotic dish in family special occasions.

From the treasure trove of the local Bangladeshi store’s refrigerator I found a pack of frozen minced chital maach. This makes making muithya half as easy.

Ingredients For muithya

1. 1 lb. flesh of chital  fish
2. 1 medium sized boiled potato
3. 1 tbsp. grated ginger
4. 1 tbsp. grated garlic
5. 1 tsp. chopped green chilies
6. 1 tsp. Bengali garam masala
7. Salt to taste
8. Oil for deep frying

Procedure to make muithya

In a mixing bowl mix all the ingredients above other than oil and make lemon sized balls out of it. Take enough water in a deep kadai or sauce pan and bring it to a rolling boil.  Once it start boiling reduce the heat and gently slide the fish balls into it. Soon you will see the balls are loosing its raw color. You can now crank up the heat and allow the fish-balls to cook for 2 minutes. Remove them with a slotted spoon and drain them on a paper towel.

In a wok heat oil for deep frying and fry the fish balls in batches till they turn golden brown. Remove from oil and your muithya is ready to go in the gravy.

Ingredients for Gravy

1. 2 medium sized potatoes cut into quarters
2. 1 large onion cut into thin slices
3. 1 tsp. ginger paste
4. 1 tsp. garlic paste
5. 2 heaped tbsp. tomato paste
6. 1 tsp. sugar
7. 1 tsp. turmeric powder
8. 1 tbsp. chili powder
9. 2-3 Bay leaves
10. Salt to taste
11. Oil
12. 1 tsp. Bengali garam masala

Making The Gravy

Heat oil in a pan and temper with bay leaves. Add onion slices to it and fry on low heat till the sides of the onion take a caramelized brown color. Remove bay leaves from it and make a paste of the fried onions.

If you have oil left in your pan you can use the same or else add little more. To get a gorgeous red color add sugar to the oil. Throw the potato cubes to it and fry till they take a golden hue. Now add ginger, garlic and fried onion paste along with turmeric and chili powder. Fry on low temperature till the raw smell reduces. Add tomato paste to it and fry everything together till the oil gets separated from the masala.

Season with salt and give a nice mix. Add about a cup of water to it and reduce the heat. Cook it covered till the potato cubes are done. Remove the cover and taste the salt and sugar balance.

Now gently add the fish balls and mix them with the gravy. This gravy will have a thick consistency, so adjust accordingly.

Cook everything together on low heat for five minutes. Sprinkle Bengali garam masala powder and keep it covered till you serve.

Enjoy with a full plate of white rice.

Eggless Mango Cake

My daughter’s school celebrates international cultural night every year. In her school there are 38 different native language speaking students. Representatives from these cultures setup booths and each student brings in a food item so that everyone gets to enjoy food from all across the world. It’s pretty amazing to walk down the hall and see their booths and then eat Mediterranean baklava, Indian bisi-bele-bath and Japanese sushi in one seating.

This year me and my friend Laxmi decided to make some fusion food. Coupling Mango into an eggless cake.

Ingredients

1. 1 cup semolina (sooji)
2. 1 cup sweetened mango pulp (canned or freshly made)
3. 1/2 cup granulated sugar
4. 1/4th cup unsalted butter at room temperature
5. 1tsp. baking powder
6. Golden raisins ( optional )

Procedure

Preheat oven at 350F.

In a bowl mix sooji with baking powder and keep aside.

Take a mixing bowl and mix butter and sugar till its creamy. Gradually add mango pulp to it and give a real good mix.

Now slowly add sooji mix to it and stir to combine. Sweetness of mango pulp varies with different brands, so it is better to check the sweetness and adjust at this point.

Grease a 9 inch baking pan and pour the cake mixture into it. Bake it in the oven for 20 minutes. Remove and allow it to cool on a wire rack.

Cut it into squares and serve. I didn’t put  raisins for my daughter’s school event keeping in mind that some students might have allergic reaction. But it really looks good when you decorate each square with golden raisin.

The same cake I made for a friend’s dinner party.

Fish Batter Fry

This time when I went to Kolkata my aunts teamed up and visited our home. Each cooked and brought their specialties. So I had a gala meal of pabdar-jhaal, chilli-chicken, payesh and fish batter-fry. The later is one of my favorite which somehow I had missed blogging about. Part of the reason is that we don’t get bhetki at Seattle. After returning to the US I attempted making batter fry with cod fillet which I got from the local Fred-Meyers and it turned out fantastic (if I may say so :))

For marinating

1. 1 lb. rectangular shaped fish fillets ( preferably Betki, Cod can also be used)
2. Juice of two limes
3. Salt
4. 2tbsp. ginger garlic paste
5. 1 tbsp. onion paste
6. 1 tsp. green chili paste

Wash the fillets and marinate them with salt and lime juice. After marinating for an hour wash them thoroughly with cold water and pat dry. This will get rid of undesired smell.

Now arrange the fillets in a wide dish. Add onion, ginger, garlic and green chili paste to it. Sprinkle salt over the fillets. Using your hands apply this spice mixture on both sides of the fillets. Let it rest for 3-4 hrs. In the summer days allow it to sit in the refrigerator.

For the batter

1. 1 cup all purpose flour or maida
2. 2tbsp. corn starch
3. 1tsp. baking powder
4. 1/2 tsp. black pepper powder
5. 1tsp. salt
6. 1/4th cup oil
7. 1 cup milk

Start making the batter half an hour before you want to fry the fillets. In a big mixing bowl take all purpose flour and whisk it with corn starch, salt, pepper and baking powder. Whisking these dry ingredients will make the fries more crispy.

Now add 1/4th cup of oil to it and mix till they combine well. Once thoroughly mixed, slowly add milk to it. Mix really well to make a thick homogenous batter.

Frying

In a wok or kadai heat enough oil for deep frying. Now dip each fillets in the batter and slide them carefully in the oil. Fry on medium heat till both sides turn golden brown. Remove them  with a slotted spoon and drain them on a paper towel.