Bolognese sauce

Bolognese Sauce 

There are some ordinary days which become really special with just about some ordinary activities. Sometimes its a long walk among the oak trees, sometimes its meeting a girlfriend over coffee which turns into a 4 hour chat session and then there are days when you make a classic roasted chicken or make bolognese sauce from scratch like today.

I followed www.lospicchiodaglio.it 's recipe and boy oh boy do I  recommend it. You do need a good 3 hours to make the sauce but its totally worth it.


Ingredients required

500gm beef mince (I used extra lean beef because I am kind of trying to eat healthy but I recommend the normal mince since a bit of fat adds a lot more flavour)
1 kg ripe tomatoes blanced and made into a paste
1 small carrot
1 stick of celery
1 small onion
1 leaf of fresh rosemary
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Salt as per taste
Freshly ground black pepper as per taste
100ml red wine

Start by making sure your meat is absolutely defrosted if you have frozen the mincemeat from before. Its best to buy fresh mince the day you make the sauce.
Finely mince the carrot , onion and celery
Heat the oil and saute the finely minced carrot, celery and onion on low heat till its golden brown. Add the beef mince and saute till it browns and then add salt, freshly crushed pepper and the wine. Cook till the wine evaporates and then add the tomatoes and cook on low heat for 2.5 hours to 3 hours.

This sauce can be used for a number of dishes. Enjoy over some freshly cooked spaghetti or make a lasagna.

With a vegetarian husband I used a portion for myself to enjoy with wholewheat spaghetti and froze the rest to make a lasagna in the future.

P.S. When searching for recipes I found that most Italian ones use bacon fat along with olive oil but I skipped it to make it healthy but I would highly recommend using it since we all know a little fat adds a lot of flavour. 

Butter Chicken / Murgh Makhani

Butter Chicken / Murgh Makhani 

Cut to 2017 and when I finally tried the butter chicken from Moti mahal Daryaganj, Delhi where this iconic dish had been created donkey years ago .  I realized how the real butter chicken should be like and I also realized that the butter chicken I had created using the recipe from this fabulous cookbook from the house of moti mahal gifted to me by Pritha tasted quite similar to the one I tasted at Moti Mahal.

Be warned that copious amount of butter has been used in the recipe and its meant to be that buttery. This is supposed to be for those are days of indulgence hence a bit of extra buttering is welcome.

Back in 2007 right out of school I was learning to make a lot of new dishes and I had tried the butter chicken masala but since our oven was broken at that time I used the chicken normally after frying it and so I can assure you that the tandoori chicken makes a whole lot of difference.

To be fair the entire process is not difficult at all. A little bit of patience is needed what with the time for marination and the grilling of the tandoori chicken but the end result is magnificent.

I understand if you have just moved into a new house or are yet to buy an oven then of course you have no other option but to use the gas stove for the chicken before it is cooked in the gravy. In that case pan roast it . I don't recommend this wholeheartedly but then again originally the tandoori chicken is made in a clay tandoor 'Clay Oven' so there you go.

What I particularly liked was that the book used chicken with bones. I personally feel when cooking Indian gravies chicken with bones work much better than boneless chicken and then I was assured by many on social media that originally it was cooked with bones but not with the skin on mind you.

Serves 3 to 4

You need tandoori chicken : Recipe Here : Tandoori Chicken


For the gravy you need 560gm tomatoes (firm and ripe)
1 heaped tsp ginger paste
1 heaped tsp garlic paste
85gm to 100gm softened butter
100ml to 120ml full dairy cream
Salt as per taste
1 tsp tandoori masala / garam masala made with green cardamom, black cardamom, bay leaf, black peppercorn and cinnamon
1 tbsp Kashmiri red chili powder

Once the tandoori chicken has been made start with the gravy.

Melt 1 tbsp butter and add the ginger garlic paste and saute for 1 minute and add chopped tomatoes and saute stirring continuously for 3  minutes to 5 minutes on medium flame and add 3/4th of the remaining butter. Now lower the heat and simmer till the oil separates and the cream , tandoori masala or garam masala , some salt and mix well and cook on low heat till its bubbling away. Joint the chicken (cut it up into medium sized pieces using a butcher's knife) and add this to the gravy , cover and cook for 4 minutes and then Mix well , add the remaining butter and serve with hot butter chapati or tandoori roti. Enjoy

Tips :-

1. If using salted butter go easy on the salt in the gravy 
2. In case you are not using the oven for the tandoori chicken . Marinate it as instructed and then heat a bit of ghee or mustard oil in a shallow flat pan and add the chicken and cook on low heat covered for 6 minutes per side. Then one the pan increase heat and cook for 2 minutes per side. Let it rest for 5 minutes and cut it into pieces. 

Penette E Pomodorini D'O Piennulo (Pasta with Tomatoes and basil)

Penette E Pomodorini D'O Piennulo 

(Pasta with Tomatoes and basil)

I used to think I make a decent Tomato based pasta be it the Arrabbiata or just a normal Tomato based Pasta . Well in my defense the sauce would mostly turn out flavourful and ever since I discovered al dente pasta I would in fact think I was creating quite the Italian dish in my kitchen.

Then one day I finally invested in La Cucina one of the best Classic Italian cookbooks of all times. You see I started cooking from a very tender age and to be able to afford a good book it does take a bit time. Your mid 20s are very different from your late teens. Anyway the point is I somehow believe that the mark of any good restaurant, cookbook or for that matter a cook lies in how he or she makes the most basic of dishes. Which is why I chose one of the simplest dishes of all times,

Now in these modern times when cooks can't seem to find their way around the kitchen with step by step photographs this classic book is quite the opposite. It has tons of exquisite recipes but not even one photograph which is quite fine by me. In fact you won't even find most of these recipes over the internet.

Well I am kind of an old fashioned world. People often ask me why a 25 year old (almost 26) would want to spend hours in the kitchen for a dish . Here is the thing I want to learn the characters of the dishes I cook and a dish's character can be traced back to its cuisine.

So if you really want to learn Italian cuisine a good old classic book is essential.

Anyway coming back to our recipe I was quite startled for a the technique used was completely different than not only what I usually use but what is mostly shared far and wide from across continents and chefs.

Now I somehow tend to be passionate and so I passionately believe that a cookbook brought by by the Culinary Acedemy of Italy will not leave any scope for mistakes. Period.

So I went about doing exactly what they had asked to. In the end I was dumbstruck. I have been to some of the fine dine restaurants of India in both Calcutta , Mumbai and Delhi and never have I tasted a tomato based pasta which had so much of flavour and the colour was the colour of passion, a deep red that I could romance with romance in my head  just by looking at it.

So here is what you need :-

Recipe :from La Cucina . Before I begin I must admit that for when I cooked the tomato sauce I halved the recipe and used half the time for cooking and being on an extreme low carb diet I used very little pasta and kept most of the sauce for later use. I am sharing the original recipe exactly as was given and I suggest you don't alter it.

1 lb Penne Pasta
1/2 lb ripe plump tomatoes blanced and skinned
1 large clove of garlic , minced
Pinch of chili flakes / Half a ripe red chili
Several Basil leaves chopped
Salt for taste
2/3rd cup EXtra Virgin Olive Oil


Chop the skinned tomatoes. Place the minced garlic and finely chopped chili with the oil and let it slowly brown . Once its browned take out the garlic and chili and add the chopped tomatoes and add salt and cook on high heat for 15 minutes stirring it and pressing it down with a masher or back of a big spatula from time time time.

While the sauce is cooking bring a pot of  water to a boil on another stove with a pinch of salt and add the pasta and cook till al dente and once done add it to the sauce and mix well and add some basil and serve.

I can promise you this is the most flavourful tomato based pasta ever.

The reserved Tomato 

Hearty Tomato Soup

Hearty Tomato Soup 

Soups and I have a strong connection from as long as I can remember. When I was young we would mostly have Chicken stew at home, which is basically a warm hearty soup with lots of winter vegetables thrown in with chicken in bones. My old man would cook it once every week and the entire family enjoyed it. He would say that bones have a crucial job in adding flavour. Once I grew up and discovered the maestros of cooking I realized how well my father knows about food since a good stock is crucial for good soups as suggested by all good cooks from all over the world.

The other kind of soup we would relish were those delicious Chinese soups. Calcutta has an old Chinatown. In fact some good folks from China settled in the 1700s and have ever since been serving exquisite Chinese food . Sadly most of these eating joints are closing down.

Anyway coming back to the soup of the day, the first time I tasted this tangy throat warming soup was on the Rajdhani Express Train when I was 10 years old. Rajdhani is one of the best rains in India connecting different cities to the capital. I loved it.

My mother wasn't much of a cook , rather she didn't like spending her time in the kitchen so she would constantly buy these packaged Knorr soups which I quite honestly relished till I realized how much more healthy and delicious it is to make these soups the traditional way.

The first time I tried my hands on Tomato soup was somewhere in the winters of 2003. I was 14 years old going on 15 and the year was coming to an end and I decided to make it. Well it was not the best one and over the years I have tried various recipes of this one humble and lip smacking soup, sometimes with carrots and beetroots added in , sometimes with leek and carrot , sometimes with celery and I finally decided to try a recipe where I mostly stay true to this plump and delicious fruit.

Now before I begin I have to say what stays constant and is a major flavour giver is the stock. It just wouldn't taste the same without it.

Anyway so here is the perfect tomato soup for me :-

Makes 3 to 4 servings

600gm plump red tomatoes which you shall blanch
1.5 litre of homemade stock of your choice  (I usually use chicken)
Salt as per taste
1 tbsp butter
1/2 a large chopped leek
1 large clove of minced garlic
1 tsp freshly group white pepper
Cream for serving (optional)
If you want a spicy touch instead of the optional cream you may add chili oil


Blanch and skin the tomatoes and chop them well. Now heat the butter till it foams and add the leek and garlic  and saute till they fill your kitchen with their aroma but take care to not brown them. Now add the tomatoes and cook till it for 5 minutes and add 800ml of the stock and let it come to a boil and add salt and simmer covered for 5 minutes. Now simply let it cool down and blend to a smooth puree. Get the puree back to the pot and add the remaining stock and bring to a slow boil while stirring it constantly and simmer for 5 minutes and serve it if you are having this on a normal day with a drizzle of chili oil or some cream.

In case you are serving it for a formal dinner or for guests strain the tomato soup once done and bring toa  slow boil and immediately serve it with added cream.

Paneer Butter Masala

Paneer Butter Masala 

I usually like trying out different versions of the same dish so that I might eventually find a recipe which suits my taste buds perfectly. Such was the case with Paneer Butter Masala also known as Paneer Makhani. Lets face it the name itself suggests it must have copious amount of butter but then the recipes I have had till date did have butter and a lot of ingredients yet there was something which was missing.

Now Butter and I go long back. My Dima 'maternal grandmother' would always compliment the Punjabis due to their use of butter in most dishes. All throughout my growing up years I was fed a meal of hot steaming rice with a good 50gm of butter and numerous boiled and mashed vegetables. Lucky for me my parents had got me admitted to swimming and till I  was involved in some pretty heavy exercise which kept my weight in check. Anyway coming back to the dish, now I know that everyone wants to be healthy and that's great. In fact on any regular day you'l find me with a bowl of steamed vegetables or a raw salad and some boiled egg or poached chicken but when it comes to certain dishes you cannot just try and make them healthy. It takes away the entire essence of the dish. Exercising and balancing your diet on every other day is how you stay healthy not by trying to make a dish named Butter Masala healthy.

Anyway back to the recipe. I had discovered the lovely robust chef Harpal Singh's videos quite by chance and after my tremendous success with his Kadhi I naturally knew whom to turn to for the Paneer Butter Masala. So here goes the recipe. I did use homemade paneer and believe me when I say that once you have made homemade paneer there is no looking back. You can use store bought paneer if you are not much inclined to making your own paneer .

Chef Harpal Singh Sokhi's Paneer Butter Masala

Serves 3

For the paneer :-

1.5 litre full cream milk
1.5 tbsp vinegar diluted with 2 tbsp water or 2 cups leftover whey

For the tomato gravy

6 medium sized tomatoes roughly chopped
6 green cardamom
3 blades of mace
100gm butter
1 tbsp minced garlic
1/2 cup fresh cream (I used Amul Cream but do use double cream if you have access to it )
Salt as per taste
1/2 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp Kashmiri chili powder

For the final gravy

Ginger the size of half your little finger cut into julienne
2 green chilies de-seeded and cut julienne
1/2 tbsp butter
The freshly made tomato gravy

The final paneer made at home 

Start by making the paneer. Simply bring the milk to a roaring boil and then add the diluted vinegar or whey and lower the temperature and let the milk for the cheese and when you see the green coloured whey with the cheese floating around switch off the stove and cover and keep for 5 minutes . Strain the cheese but reserve the whey and tie the cheese in a cheesecloth or muslin cloth and drain it for 15 minutes to 20 minutes and then flatten it out with the cloth and put in on a plate and put another plate on top with a mortar and pestle or a heavy book on the plate and leave for 1 hour or so. Cut the slab into cubes and there you go , you have soft fresh paneer.

Store the whey in the refrigerator for future use. If you knead your dough for chapatis with whey the chapatis turn out extra soft, used in vegetable curries it enhances the flavour and if used for the next batch of paneer you will get the softest paneer ever.

Final tomato gravy 

Now start off with your tomato gravy. Melt 1 tbsp butter and add the chopped tomatoes and cook over medium to low flame till its mushy (covering and cooking gives faster results) and add the mace and cardamom and cook till it forms a paste and add the Kashmiri chili powder , add salt and cook for another minute . Let it cool down and blend it smooth .

Now mince the garlic. Melt 1 tbsp butter and saute the garlic and add the tomato paste and cook of medium flame , stirring continuously for 3 minutes and add 75gm butter and mix well and cook for 1 minute and add half a cup of cream and cook on low flame for another 2 minutes and your tomato base is ready.

Now melt 1 tbsp butter and saute ginger chopped julienne and the green chilies and add the paneer cubes and saute well. When the paneer turns golden add the tomato gravy and mix well and simmer for 3 minutes and serve with hot chapati or butter nan or Basmati rice.

Balsamic Honey Paprika Bell Pepper Salad

Balsamic Honey Paprika Bell Pepper Salad 

For me a salad's success largely depends on the dressing. I don't mean that I would want my salad to be drenched in the dressing but a good dressing can definitely make a boring salad extremely delicious. 

I believe it is only balance alone which keeps everything in its place. Just like you vcan't simply keep on indulging in unhealthy fattening food you can't go on eating low calorie salads without a break. A break I did take last Saturday with an indulgent meal which included a cheese tart and brioche au chocolat so it was time for a nice healthy low calorie salad again . With a tangy sweet and sour dressing this salad is a keeper for me. The dressing is a classic one with a tiny twist

Serves 1

2 small tomatoes
Half a red bell pepper
Half an yellow bell pepper
1 tbsp dried cranberries
2 dried prunes

For the dressing

1 tsp honey
2 tsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp paprika
Salt as per taste
1/2 tsp finely chopped mint leaves

Chop your salad to make long stripes and chill it for 1 hour. Just before serving whisk together the ingredients mentioned in the dressing to create an emulsion and pour over your salad and enjoy this tangy sweet delight.

Healthy Bell Pepper Soup

Healthy Bell Pepper Soup 

It doesn't take much effort to be healthy and no healthy doesn't mean one compromises on taste. Its tasty in its own way. For this soup you actually need some good quality homemade stock be it vegetarian or chicken or even fish. Its very nutritious and with 1 tsp oil its a perfect meal after a good workout. On top of everything else one who loves soups of most kinds such as myself its soul warming and comforting.

Serves 1

1 medium sized yellow bell pepper
1 medium sized red bell pepper
2 small tomatoes
3 to 4 medium sized garlic cloves
1 small sized onion
1 tsp olive oil
Salt as per taste
250ml good quality chicken stock or vegetable stock or fish stock
1/2 tsp paprika

Simply chop the bell peppers and tomatoes  , slice the onion and smash the garlic after peeling them. Now heat the oil on low flame and add the garlic and onions and cover and let it get sauteed for 50 seconds. This covering and cooking  softens the onion with that little oil. Now add the tomatoes and bell peppers and cover and cook on low heat. The juice of the tomatoes will soften the vegetables.

After 2 minutes stir and add the paprika and cook for another 2 minutes but check from time to time to make sure it doesn't burn. After the vegetables have softened add half the stock and bring to a boil and then cool and blend to a smooth consistency.

Now put the blend pepper soup in the pan with the rest of the stock and being to a boil and then simmer for 5 minutes and serve.

Yes its that easy :)

Almond Tomato Pesto

Almond Tomato Pesto 

Well when you restrict your diet sometimes it can be hard especially if you are part of too many food groups on the virtual media. Someone wanted to know about pesto and that led to a serious craving for pasta and I was glad that I hadn't eaten dinner. I decided to read a bit about pesto and ah ha it provided the exact information I needed , while there are the traditional recipes which mostly needs cheese it is also a generic term for anything which is pound or crushed. I knew exactly what to do. So here is a pesto which is bursting with flavours and is healthy as well

Makes 2 servings

5 to 6 medium sized cloves of garlic
4 plump juicy medium sized tomatoes blanched and peeled
30 to 40 almonds blanched
2 to 4 dried red chilies
Salt as per taste
1 tbsp to 2 tbsp  extra virgin olive oil
1/4th cup fresh mint leaves

Simply start by pounding the garlic and then add the mint leaves and almonds and keep pounding till its more or less smooth and add the tomatoes after chopping them and then add salt and finally add the oil bit by bit to create a smooth emulsion. Serve over wholewheat pasta and you have a healthy meal . You can use it as a dip as well.

In case you do not want to go through the whole process of pounding the ingredients just blend away in a mixer grinder.

Egg Potato Salad

Egg Potato Salad 

The best part about being part of some amazing virtual platforms is that you can never run out of inspiration when it comes to recipes . So Claudia , a wonderful chef posted about this boiled potato based Italian salad and I knew it had to be my lunch today. Its really simple and well I did adapt the recipe, so I substituted capers with stuffed olives and replaced the herbs with what I had at home  but the end result was delicious indeed.

Now potatoes are highly misunderstood. You see they are widely known as the reason for obesity but wake up and see the truth people. Its not the potato that is unhealthy but the method of cooking. So fry it and you pile on the pounds roast it or boil and you have a perfectly healthy food item. Of course it is a source of carbohydrate so ideally if you are taking potatoes you need not worry about extra intake of bread or rice or pasta etc 1 medium sized boiled potato contains about 211 calories. I used two small sized potatoes but they were not baby potatoes

So here goes a healthy salad which serves 1

2 small sized potatoes boiled and chilled
1 medium sized tomato
1 small sized onion
5 to 6 stuffed olives halved
1 tsp fresh onion green chopped finely
1 hard boiled egg cooled sliced and chilled
Sprinkle of paprika - I used 1/4th tsp you can use 1/2 tsp as well
1/2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1/2 tsp chives - I used dried ones
Fat pinch of oregano
Salt as per required

Simply slice them in circular patterns and chill but do not mix the salt, balsamic vinegar and oil from before. Before serving toss the chilled salad with the Extra virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar and sprinkle salt and serve. You have a healthy meal ready to be enjoyed.

Linguine in Bacon Pomodoro Sauce

Linguine  in Bacon Pomodoro Sauce 

Sometimes you need to make some changes to the original recipe because of lack of ease of availability of ingredients. So I was set on this beautiful Italian recipe but the cheese used is rarely available and my friend had come over  before I had ordered the required cheese. Needless to say I substituted the required cheese with another easily available Italian cheese and the result was scrumptious even with the change. I mean there is little chance of going wrong when you have bacon, Parmesan, a nice tomato based sauce heaped on pasta cooked al-dente

Serves 2 :-

180gm to 200gm dried linguine pasta
4 to 5 plump big tomatoes
2 fat cloves of garlic
1 large onion sliced very thin
3 fatty rashers of bacon
A good handful of freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Spray of olive oil

Simply boil your pasta as per instructions on the packet. For al dente be careful to take out the pasta and cook it for a minute less than the specified time. Now if the instructions ask you to boil the pasta for 7 minutes to 9 minutes start making your sauce after 4 minutes of boiling the pasta. Mince the garlic and chop tomatoes and slice onion. Now spray a pan with olive oil and fry the bacon and when its nicely done and you have a lot of bacon grease take out the bacon and  saute the garlic in the bacon fat and then add the sliced onion and finally the plump juicy chopped tomatoes and cook then for 1/2 a minute on high flame and add salt and then simmer covered to make a nice sauce and mash with masher and add 1 ladle of the pasta water . When you get a  thick sauce mix in the Parmesan reserving some to be sprinkled on each plate. Meanwhile keep an eye on the pasta and drain it and plate it and pour the sauce on top and add bacon and a sprinkle of Parmesan and serve

Two cheese pasta

Two cheese pasta 

There are times when you feel cheesy. Well no pun intended but surely when you have two varieties of cheese at home sometimes you end up using both for a delicious treat even if the cheese isn't a apart of the cuisine from where you have taken your inspiration from but then again if the end result makes you feel happy does it really matter? After all you aren't really calling it with a particular name from the cuisine. So here I am presenting my two cheese pasta

Serves 1 - 2 (depending on appetite)

2 cups whole wheat penne (yields 3.5 servings of pasta)
3 ping pong ball sized tomatoes
1 large garlic clove + 1 medium garlic clove
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp balmasic vinegar
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried red chili
2 tbsp grated cheddar
2 tsp heaped crumbled feta

What you do is cook the pasta as per instructions on the packet. Now simply heat the oil and add the minced garlic and then add the tomatoes and use the balsamic vinegar and cook on high heat for a few seconds and add the herb and chili and add the pasta toss around and add the shredded cheddar , let it melt and add the crumbled feta before serving.

Sun Dried Tomatoes

Sun Dried Tomatoes 

When I saw Rhea Mitra Dalal from Euphorea's post about Sun dried tomatoes on the culinary group Chef At Large I knew I had to make the best of the sun which can probably wrinkle and dry me and so a kilogram of tomatoes were chopped and thus began that incredible journey.

Sun -drying tomatoes in places where you get plenty of sun is easy but in a tropical country like our's here are a few points you might find useful which I am sharing from my experience . While you can use any herb or make it any way I am giving you the exact measurement and ingredients which I personally have used

Mixing everything

So basically what you need is :-

1 kilogram of plump red tomatoes. I used the medium sized ones
1 tbsp paprika
1 heaped tsp dried thyme
Salt as per taste but here I would like to point out that salt is a preservative and so using a bit of extra salt wouldn't be a bad idea. I used 1 heaped tsp + 1 dessertspoon of salt.

Dried after 3 days

Chop the tomatoes in small pieces and mix all the ingredients and place preferably on a flat colander or just a big plate. Let it wrinkle up. It might take any number of days from 3 days to 2 weeks. It took me 3 days. Once done the texture will be dry and leathery . Now simply store in a  jar and fill the jar with olive oil, I used 5 to 6 dried cloves of garlic and 1 whole sun dried red chili pepper for extra flavour. let it sit for 2 days and enjoy the amazing flavour. use on pizzas, pastas , salads or even on bread

Here is an idea of what can be done with these gorgeous beauties. Spaghetti with Sun dried tomatoes.


Points to remember :-

1. Place the tomatoes side by side leaving a bit of space between them 
2. Once the sun goes down immediately put your colander in the refrigerator else it might form moulds in a  Tropical country like India. i did a test and put out one slice outside and put the rest inside and the one slice developed mould within 1 hour. 
3. Use a screen to ward off birds 
4. If living in a  dusty area use a muslin cloth on top but make sure it doesn't touch the tomatoes . use bricks on four sides. Remember our Grandmothers making pickles and drying stuff before pickling  

Mint tomato salad

Mint Tomato Salad 

The summer is approaching with all its fury. The moment we mortals step out,  his nostrils are flaring up and he is bellowing and spitting out fire. While the temperature is rising and we mortals are almost cursing , it is time to get refreshed and the one summer herb which refreshes me instantly is the minty fresh mint leaf. Mint has this amazingly cool effect which cools down my body very quickly.

In this trying weather some fresh mint tomato salad is what I crave .Some firm  tomatoes, fresh mint leaves and a tangy dressing is all you need.  The reason I personally love making this salad is the simplicity of the recipe.

Serves 2

What one needs :-

4 firm tomatoes
2 tbsp fresh mint leaves
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
Salt as per taste
Freshly ground pepper as per taste

De-seed the tomatoes and cut them in rings and then cut the ring on one side to make long thin strips of tomatoes. Clean the mint leaves and chill the tomatoes and mint leaves. Make the dressing by whisking the salt, pepper, evol and vinegar to make a thick emulsion. Toss the dressing with the salad right before serving and enjoy this summer salad. 

Salsa Roja

Roja means red and this salsa is red, hot and will blow your mind. You see a quick search will yield 17 variants of salsa. The easiest cooked Salsa is this delicious Tomato based one from Mexico and Southwestern USA. It literally translates to "Red sauce" and the simple salsa is an excellent dip be it with nachos, crisps or simple raw vegetables as a delicious snack.

The ingredients are very simple . All you need is :-

To be fair this recipe might have served more than 4 people but whenever I make it vanishes in no time and well that's the beauty of this simple yet delicious recipe

800gm to 1 kg of plump red tomatoes
2 onions
3 to 4 ripened red chilies / dried red chili
1.5 to 2 tbsp minced garlic
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp cumin powder
Salt as per taste
2.5 tbsp finely chopped coriander leaves

Blanch the tomatoes and then skin them and chop. Saute the garlic in olive oil and when the beautiful aroma spreads throughout your kitchen add the onions and fry till translucent which means its soft and cooked but not golden and definitely not browned. Add the chilies and saute for a minute before adding the tomatoes. Masher with a masher and and salt and cumin powder. Cook till it reaches you desired consistency and add 1 tbsp of the coriander leaves. Once done coarsely blend it and garnish with the rest of the coriander leaves. This sauce is supposed to be chunky and deliciously spicy and red hot. Enjoy this lovely salsa 

Pollo Alla Milanese

So the most delicious things in life are the simplest ones. One such delight is the Pollo alla Milanese which is basically chicken breast beaten well to flatten it and then served with spinach and a tomato sauce but then Christmas is all about love is it not?

Well it actually goes back to the 26th when I was tryign to meet my deadline and was in a flurry of typing , listenign analsyizing etc and then the phoen rings and here si what happened:

H: "Where are you Manjari?" Me: " I am in my house why?" H: "Come out please" And holy Mother of God there he was standing in front of my house , my lanky bear of a husband. Well with his beard and all he can pass of as a bear , a lanky one at that standing with his luggage and a rose. Between transit to his hometown the dear man had made a stop and demanded that i immediately accompany him which was not possible since I had a deadline and a Christmas celebration which had been anyways fashionably postponed . With precious little time left since we came to an agreement of my traveling on the 30th I knew that a Dundee cake and whole roast would not be possible what with packing and all and so I decided on a simple recipe which did not require the oven.

So this cotoletta as the Italians would say might have originally been made of veal but i have read in blogs by people from that land of culinary delight that chicken is also acceptable hence from Cotoletta alla Milanese it becomes pollo (chicken) alla Milanese. Well authentic cotoletta is a cutlet fried bone in but i did get my chicken breasts all deboned from the butchers and used the bone for a fantastic stock for later usage .

Christmas is definitely all about relationships and so I had originally planned on the Pomodoro (tomato) sauce and spinach tossed around with garlic and olive oil but since I was going away I could help ask my best friend which sauce she would prefer and she said she would want the white based sauce and so the dish finally came to represent the Italian flag. My dear friend and cousin gobbled up both sauces and from the way they were engrossed in the dish I can say that my Christmas was most definitely a wonderful one. Now Bechamel sauce is essentially French but add a bit of nutmeg and Parmesan and you have Italian white sauce

Anyways the most obvious reason for choosing this lovely dish is because of its sheer simplicity and here is what you do

Use 1 chicken breast per person and flatten it with a mallet Ah but before that this is what you need

Chicken breast 1/2 per person
Salt and pepper
Olive Oil
Homemade breadcrumbs Handful for 2 breasts
1 egg per breast (again the size of eggs vary greatly)
Roughly 50gm all purpose flour per breast


For the pomodoro sauce (Tomato sauce)

8 large plump tomatoes
3 to 4 large sized garlic cloves which when minced should yield about 2.5 tbsp garlic (You see the size of the garlic varies from place to place)
Salt and pepper
2 to 3 tsp red chili flakes
Handful of fresh basil
1tbsp extra virgin olive oil

For the special Italian bechamel sauce

3 tbsp of silky smooth almond paste
3tbsp unsalted butter
3 cups of whole milk
6 tbsp cream
Pinch of nutmeg
Salt and pepper
A good handful of Parmesan cheese

For the spinach

I used about 500gm of spinach
3 tbsp minced garlic
Olive oil
Salt and pepper

The recipe is basically very simple.

Start with the sauces . Simple blanch the tomatoes and chop chop chop. Use about 4 tbsp olive oil and saute minced garlic and add the chili flakes and half the chopped basil and quickly add the tomatoes and stir and cook on medium flame till it bubbles and add salt , pepper and the rest of the basil then mash a bit and simmer till you get a thick sauce.

For your white Italian bechamel sauce simply melt the butter and add the smooth nut paste and the milk and quickly add salt, pepper , nutmeg half the cheese and stir continuously so that no lumps are formed to make a smooth silky sauce and then add the other half of the cheese and mix well. You can also first bring the milk to a boil with the nutmeg salt and pepper and simmer it for 5 to 7 minutes then melt butter add nut paste and the flavoured milk and cheese and simmer while stirring continuously.

All you need to do is flatten the chicken a bit and season with salt and pepper and then simply roll around in the flour and then dip in whisked eggs and coat well with breadcrumbs so that no bit is left un-coated and then fry in the olive oil. The flavour of this cutlet comes from the frying in olive oil and this one must never substitute with other oils else it seizes to be Pollo alla Milanese from Italy and believe me the flavour of the olive oil fried cutlet is superb. Here is a little tip with your breadcrumbs. The fresher it is the better it is of course and nothing beats homemade ones but adding a bit of salt, pepper and dried oregano gives an amazing flavour.

Once you are done with the chicken. Simple add 5 to 6 tbsp olive oil to a hot pan and add the minced garlic and the chopped spinach and cook on high heat for not more than 3 minutes to retain the colour and flavour. Over-cooking renders the spinach bitter.

You have your beautiful meal waiting for you and everybody to appreciate

Aubergine salad

Creamy and tangy Aubergine salad 

There comes the time when you are tired, tensed with an approaching deadline yet there is the weekend to spend with the other half (Cannot be sure if better) So despite the work schedule we lazily watched movies and then there were the hunger pangs at 4 p.m.

My funny bachelor of a husband as I call him lives in the City of Dreams while I stay in the City of Joy. Quite naturally I expect compromises such as having to not have the joys of an oven, absence of many a kitchen appliances both electronic and otherwise but what was beyond my anticipation was the absence of a gas-stove. Apparently the electronic stove which was probably invented during the discovery of Electricity itself does the work for him.

Swamped with work I asked the other half to stock the pantry and come Saturday I had garlic, onions, tomatoes , plump purple aubergines , a few stale wholewheat bread slices  , chili flakes salt Olive oil which I had stocked in my previous visit some 4 months ago and some curd which I did hang for a quick dip which meant a visit to the market was a necessity deadline or no deadline but before that it was lunch time and so I decided on making some cooked salsa and storing it for further emergencies. You see these humble tomatoes can work wonders when in need. Use it as a dip for veggies and you have a lovely snack, use it with salads , use it as a condiment for meat. Well its usefulness is endless.

Now the salad is extremely simple :

All you need is

Plump purple aubergines
Whipped hung curd
Homemade salsa


So I went ahead with my batch of salsa.

Basically it is very easy

I used about 6 plump small to medium sized tomatoes
1 whole medium sized onion and half a medium sized onion
5 to 6 pressed garlic (the size is 1/4th of the giant garlic cloves)
salt as per taste
Olive Oil
Chili flakes (I used 1 tsp since the other half has developed an intolerance for hot food) You can use it as per the amount of hotness you can handle

Just use a good lug of oil and saute your pressed garlic  , when you get that beautiful aroma add your chopped onions and saute till translucent and add chopped tomatoes. Mix well and then simmer covered. remember that tomatoes have high water content and hardly needs extra water in the salsa. When you see bubbles on top add salt and chili flakes and mix well. and then simmer mashing everything with a masher from time to time till it reduces and becomes sticky. Cool the cooked tomatoes and simply blend away to a chunky paste. This can be stored upto 5 days. Simply add 1 tbsp of olive oil when putting it in the jars

The next step is simple . Simple whip your hung curd to yield a smooth creamy texture. Tip Do not throw it in a blender please else you shall have a creamy but liquid curd.

Frying aubergines

Cut your aubergine in circular shapes neither too thick nor too thin because if its too thick it absorbs way too much oil and too thin would burn it easily. Simply fry these in olive oil. Now you might think that refined oil which is much cheaper is the better option but believe me when I say that olive oil has its own flavour which it imparts to the aubergine when fried in it. Simply rub salt and fry on both sides till golden. I usually cover the pan when frying aubergines to speed up the process.

Frying bread

Make little cubes out of your bread slices and simply fry to a crunchy delight

Assembling the salad is a piece of cake. Simple layer the aubergines add whipped hung curd on top and top it with salsa and the fried pieces of bread.

Now while this salad is neither low calorie nor fat free it is one hearty salad perfect for the gloomy cold weather of which Bombay had neither on that particular but nevertheless the husband licked the plate clean. I took a single bite and was tempted to try bite after bite but refrained from doing so with great difficulty

Tangy tasty Ketchup

So tomatoes have come down to Rs30 a kilogram for the plumpest reddest and sweetest tomatoes which means it is ketchup time. Now I cannot imagine reaching for those bottled ketchup off the shelves. All that preservative makes me run miles away.

This easy peasy recipe can change anyone's mind to take less than half a day out of their busy schedule to indulge in customized ketchup. To be fair for this one's flavours I suggest you not follow any recipe but make it as per your taste buds. If you do not like celery there always is basil if not that then there is thyme and if herbs are not your cup of tea there is no need to worry you can always use Indian spices for all you lovely people. What is important is the use of vinegar and salt which is the preservative for your ketchup. As per Jamie Oliver, if you seal this deal you have amazing tangy sweet and spicy delight  which lasts a good 6 months. I did not even follow his recipe except the basics. Mine was tangy , hot , spicy , caramelized and well if I may say so I licked off every last bit left in the pot. Now ketchup is supposed to be thick not the runny stuff one usually gets in an Indian market so here goes the recipe for thick delicious tangy hot  ketchup

So what you need is:

1kilogram of plump red tomatoes
200ml red wine vinegar or any vinegar of your choice
Salt as per taste
Sugar as per taste , I used a handful which was enough for me
4 tablespoonful of olive oil
9 to 10 crushed garlic cloves (The size of the garlic is half of what is usually considered fat )
2 medium sized onions
Two fat pinches each of dried oregano and dried thyme and dried basil
8 dried red chilies (increase and decrease as per level of hotness you can handle)
1 tsp homemade mustard

Start by heating oil and sauteing crushed garlic, (just press it with the flat side of your knife) and onions, soften the onions and remember everything must be on low heat. Add the dried red chilies broken in half. Now add chopped tomatoes. I did blanch the tomatoes first for half of the usual time for blanching but did not skin them. This speeds up the process. Bring to a slow boil and add the vinegar and salt. Add the herbs and mustard and sugar and if you want the ketchup a little less thick 300ml water. Simmer till the quantity is reduced to half its amount, cool , blend away so that its all smooth without one bit of solid bit and transfer in a sterilized bottle. Refrigerate and enjoy :)

PS I always try and make the most usage of things and so always store those bottles once the olives or jalapenos etc are finished off and sue the jars to jar my ketchup and condiments wink wink

Beet tomato salad

Beet tomato salad with a cilantro vinaigrette dressing 

When you know you want things healthy with a twist you must take ideas and create your own and so that is what i exactly did. With a bit of inspiration and a little bit of experience here is a healthy salad option. Some people might not like the raw taste of beetroot. In that case steam them a little bit and immediately place them in ice-cold water so that they retain their colour. The vinaigrette cilantro dressing gives it a fantastic twist  Pair it with spicy grilled chicken or some grilled fish.

Its a very simply affair (Seves 1)

1 beet
2 to 3 tomatoes medium size
2.5 tsp cilantro leaves, finely chopped

Dressing

Vinaigrette made with
2 parts balsamic vinegar
3 parts Extra virgin olive oil
1 part freshly squeezed orange juice
Salt and pepper

Shake everything well in a little bottle . if you like your vinaigrette to be thick then add a bit of extra oil and shake if you like it extra tangy then do not add any more oil. Drizzle the salad with the dressing and add the cilantro. The fresh sharpness of cilantro leaves and the tangy flavours makes it a delightful salad. You can assemble the salad from before but never use the dressing from before because it would make the dish watery. Puritans say one should serve the dressings separately in a dressing bowl for diners to use as per taste. I follow the same.

Aubergine stew

The Healthy Aubergine stew inspired by Jamie Oliver and Sicily 

Say what you will but I am a firm believer of hearty Sunday brunches and healthy weekday lunches. You see while I believe that the beautiful rich gravy for the Sunday Chicken roast or the delightfully regal Murgh - E- Shalimar or that excellent breakfast with plump sausages and bacon or the deep fried Puris are all an ode to marvelous taste I believe that we should give due respect to our health for which we survive at all.

So come Monday and its usual work,not swamped with work but work nevertheless. So at 10:30 the hunger pangs suggests I have a snack but my mind says a fuller meal for having stupidly eaten 1 square of dark chocolate and tea in the morning. After a bit of debate I decide on brunch. Hmm! Now what to do , what to do the fish is all frozen, did not want chicken after yesterdays's roast chicken and so finally look in my folders for previously collected recipes and remembered the two plump aubergines and  picked up Oliver's 'Incredible Sicilian Aubergine Stew'. What a lovely delightful brunch. Aubergines sauteed in olive with the robust flavour from plump tomatoes. With my new found principle of fresh is the best discareded the sue of bottled olives and capers. Swapped the parsley for beautiful aromatic basil because ah basil and tomato are the couple in love forever. a small addition of less than half a teaspoonful of chili flakes and of course the usual garlic I present Healthy Monday Aubergine brunch.  had to settle for the home dried basil leaves instead of fresh herbs because well I am again a  firm believer of wastage being a sin.                                       P.S. The sprinkle (salt and water ) , cover method really helps cook the vegetables extremely fast :)

So here is what goes in

2 lovely plump aubergines
4 plump tomatoes
1 heaped tsp oregano leaves
1 tablespoonful of red wine vinegar but adjust as per your liking for tangy taste
Chopped basil leaves say less than a handful
Freshly ground pepper (I used about 20 peppercorns )
1 medium sized very finely sliced onion
4 to 5 garlic cloves. reduce number as per size of increase it mine were standard Indian medium sized ones
Less than half a tsp chili flakes
olive oil

So chop aubergines in chunks, not too big else it takes too long a time for cooking. Mince your garlic, Finely slice the onions and chop the tomatoes in chunks. saute aubergines in olive oil , not too much . add onions and garlic once aubergines are cooked.  I use my own trick here by using 2 tablespoonful of oil and then frying on high heat for say 1 minute and adding the onions and garlic and then I sprinkle salt and oregano , sprinkle water and cover for the aubergines to be cooked well with using less oil but just a sprinkle of water please else it becomes boiled :P . then add your red wine vinegar and let it evaporate and add tomatoes, chili flakes and basil. Cook for 15 minutes or more till vegetables are thoroughly cooked yet not overcooked on low heat . Again i do cover and add a sprinkle of water. And then there you go with a healthy lunch . Enjoy it with whole wheat or multigrain bread. Flat bread goes well with this as well. I served with white bread since I was out of any other bread and had mine without and sides but thats too extreme and would not recommend that.