The Laksa

After a weekend or two of food-sins, my husband and I like to wind down with two days of soup for dinner. On one such night I ventured into laksa and it turned out worthy of a post. So here it is.

Laksa paste is something that is readily available in the market, like garam masala or like stock. However, homemade laksa paste can be made by grinding a small red shallot, soaked dry red chillies (6-7), ginger-garlic paste, salt, turmeric, a few macadamia nuts, dried shrimp, a stalk of lemongrass, cumin and coriander, and a little paprika with a small drizzle of oil.

For laksa, pour boiling water over your rice vermicelli noodles and let it sit for 3 minutes before draining. Meanwhile heat a little oil in a pot. Add two fat spoons of laksa paste to it and fry for a minute till your kitchen smells like laksa. Add prawns, chicken and snow peas and fry some more with the paste. Then add two cups of coconut milk and two cups of chicken stock. Simmer, add the noodles, and add salt to taste, until happy with the consistency. Serve hot with bean sprouts and maybe cucumber on top!

The Aglio e Olio

My parents have never been big fans of a lot of creamy sauce all over pasta. Many who wouldn't have it any other way would wonder what that even means. This recipe makes for a quick, easy and reasonably healthy dinner on a weeknight, sans sauce.

Pasta Aglio e Olio

Get your favorite pasta (I went with durum wheat penne) and boil till cooked al dente. Drain and set aside. Meanwhile heat some olive oil and throw in a spoon of freshly chopped garlic, dry red chillies or chilli flakes, and chorizo, plus any veggies you might want to add. Fry till the chorizo is crackling. Add the pasta in and toss. Add a half cup of fresh parsley and toss till wilted. Turn off the heat and add a fistful of parmesan and a little oregano. Toss and serve!

The Poppy Bird

Posto chicken, or poppy chicken curry. Easy 20 minute recipe and perfect for a pre-siesta lunch on the weekends!

Soak a tablespoon of poppy seeds in water for 10-15 minutes. Drain and add to the blender with a large spoonful of coconut (grated/chunks), a couple of green chillies, a few cinnamon sticks and cardamon, and grind. Set aside.

Fry a chopped onion with a spoonful of ginger garlic paste in a little mustard oil. Add chicken pieces (750g) and a spoon each of cumin and coriander powder along with salt and turmeric. Add the poppy seed/coconut paste. Add a little water to allow for simmering, and maybe a spoon or two of cashewmeal as a thickening agent. Cook until the chicken is done. Serve traditionally with a garnish of cilantro, over fresh basmati rice. Enjoy!

The Spiced Mince

Start your Monday healthy with this easy 10-minute yummy tummy-filler.

Spiced Mince

Finely chop a small onion and fry in a little olive oil in a pan. Add your choice of minced meat/poultry (I used half a kg of turkey mince) and fry till the meat is no longer pink. Add a small spoon of chopped or minced garlic, a spoon each of cumin and paprika, and salt to taste. Then add large pieces of diced tomato and eggplant, maybe even some chopped cauliflower, some pine nuts, dried blueberries/sultanas/raisins/currants for a sour element, and generous amounts of parsley. Take off the heat.

Serve with a fried egg for added yum, over your choice of side - couscous, wild rice, whatever. I served mine over turmeric flattened rice (poha) and it tasted awesome!

The Bengali Dum

Dum Aloo is typically a Kashmiri dish in a rich slow-cooked gravy, but there are so many variants to the actual recipe, this one being a common Bengali weekend brunch one, with a side of fluffy luchis.

Parboil potatoes. Ideally get baby potatoes but we made do with regular ones. Cut into large pieces and set aside. Heat a little oil and add ginger-garlic paste. Then add a diced onion and sauté. Add a diced tomato and some salt, turmeric, red chilli, cumin and coriander powders, and sauté some more. Add a stick or two of cinnamon and throw in two cardamom. Take the mixture off the heat and grind coarsely. Add it back to the pan with the potatoes and cook on until the potatoes are done (add water intermittently so nothing burns). Finish it off with a sprinkle of kasuri methi.

I avoid refined flour in my luchis so I made the dough purely out of whole wheat flour (aata). Knead it into a tight, smooth dough, not soft like you would for roti. Roll using oil (not dry flour) and deep fry.

Serve up!

The Monday Kicker

Need help getting out of bed this Monday? Forget coffee; this breakfast will have you power through the morning!

French toast with chocolate cream, coconut, walnuts and mandarins

Works great with slices of bread too but I went with a leftover baguette. Whip 3 eggs with a half cup of milk, a pinch of salt and some cinnamon. Heat butter on a pan. Dunk a slice of bread in the egg mixture (let it soak for a few seconds) and then place in the pan. Let one side brown, then flip.

The chocolate cream is basically an unthickened ganache (which I prefer to chocolate sauce because sauce is too sweet). Boil half a cup of cream and pour over 50 grams of chocolate. Mix.

Top up your eggy bread with some creamy chocolate, grated coconut, walnuts and mandarins. You've got your carbs, your protein, some fruits and nuts and juuust enough sugar to keep you going till that sacred hour of lunch. Happy Monday!

The Sweet Centurion

Happy 100th post! I don't know how and when we made it to a hundred, but I knew I wanted to step out of my comfort zone to attempt something different for today. There's so much I don't know, and after today I can say a decent meringue isn't one of those things (yay).

Macarons!

They sit there at the confectionery looking so colorful and pretty and you just want to pop a million of them at once. Totally doable at home, by the way.

Preheat oven to 150C. Beat four egg whites together with a cup of caster sugar till they form a stiff foam or meringue - which is when the mixture stiffens so much that you could turn the bowl upside down for a sec and it won't fall out. Add a few drops of desired flavor or food coloring and mix some more. Then add a cup of almond meal and a cup and a half of icing sugar with a tiny pinch of salt. Fold until mixed well but not runny. Pour into a piping bag and make little macarons on a tray lined with baking paper. Tap the tray flat against the counter once or twice to smoothen each macaron. Bake for 15-20 minutes and cool.

For the filling you could use any cream, but I went with a simple chocolate ganache. Boil 30 mL of cream and pour over about 100g of chocolate. Let it sit for a minute then stir to mix. Cool until thickened in the fridge and pipe onto the base of one macaron cookie. Add the second macaron cookie on top and there you have it: homemade macarons!