The Momo Bar

Is there a better way to do Friday night? No, there isn't.
Break out the momos.

VEG STUFFING

Prepare shredded cabbage, lettuce, carrots, beets, and anything else you might want to add. If you aren't in the mood to thinly slice a million vegetables, get a coleslaw bag. Heat a little oil and add grated ginger, chopped green chillies and chopped spring onions. Then add all the vegetables and toss with a little soy sauce till the cabbage has softened. Put aside.

MEAT STUFFING

Get your preferred minced meat, and mix with the following in a bowl: chopped onions, coriander, garlic, ginger, salt, turmeric, red chillies, and any preferred type of curry powder. Heat a little oil, and once it's hot, pour all over this glorious mash, mix and let sit (to cook the mixture a little.

SAUCE

In India, momos are typically served with the standard garlic chilli sauce that you'd find in any Asian supermarket. However, I LOVE the original Nepali achar (sauce) made from scratch, for which you heat a little oil and add sesame seeds, then green chillies. Add salt and turmeric, and pour in half a can of crushed tomatoes. Mix well, then blend into a beautiful momo sauce.

WRAPPING

So making the dough isn't tough, but I got lazy and bought some wonton wrappers. There's many different ways of folding momos; if the wrappers are circular, you can put the stuffing in the middle and bring all the sides up and pinch at the top to make a little bag, or fold on to one side and pleat to make a purse. I got square wrappers (not ideal) so I brought all corners up to make a parcel for the meat momos and rolled and twisted for the veg momos. Your choice.

Wrap up your momos and steam for 10-12 minutes or until the wrapper becomes translucent (or fry if it's a cheat day). Serve with sauce!

The Creamy Kabab

Malai tikka kababs are underrated. They're easier to get right than a perfect tikka or tandoori and I'm not kidding.

Marinate bite-sized boneless pieces of chicken thighs with a fat dollop of sour cream, a fistful of grated mild cheddar or three-blend cheese, salt, paprika, a small pinch of garam masala, ginger-garlic paste, chopped bell peppers, and finally a sprinkle of cardamom powder. Literally, that's it. Grease a cookie sheet and bake the kababs on high (burn them a tiny bit) till done! Maybe keep some of the scraped burnt cheese off the sheet and sneak em while you pretend to prep dinner. Yum.

The Kundapur Tribute

I couldn't possibly count the total number of times I've traveled long distances while in Manipal and Bangalore just to get myself some amazing Chicken Ghee Roast with fluffy neer dosas that I'm not even going to attempt to make. My friends still send me pictures of it to make me jealous! So I had to try it. And also, this was a great way of finding out exactly how much ghee went into a glorious dish like this, which, let me tell you, won't have you cooking this every week. But it's all sooooo worth it.

Chicken ghee roast, ladies and gentlemen

Marinate chicken with the usual ginger garlic paste, yoghurt, cumin, coriander, and red chilli powder, and salt and turmeric and cook in ghee till cooked. Set aside.

Heat a tablespoon of ghee and fry ginger garlic paste, dried red chillies, whole garam masala, Kashmiri red chilli powder for color, fennel, cumin seeds and coriander seeds. Add a little water and boil. Let cool into a paste, and grind. Set aside.

Heat another fat spoon of ghee and fry curry leaves with that masala you ground, and finally add the chicken. Add a spoon of jaggery, which I didn't have so I added sugar.

Coat the chicken in the ghee and masala but don't dry it up completely. Serve ideally with neer dosas but Malaysian parathas go well too.

The Parmesan Crust

Parmesan-crusted fish with Cajun sweet potato fries (baked)

THE FISH

Cut fillets of your favorite white fish and cover in Dijon mustard and some olive oil. Meanwhile grind breadcrumbs (enough to coat the fish) along with a fistful of parmesan cheese, some parsley, a drizzle of olive oil and garlic salt. Put the mustard covered fish on a plateful of this breadcrumb mixture and press the coating on. Bake for 15-20 minutes.

THE FRIES

Sweet potatoes take forever to bake. So I parboil them first before cutting into fries. Cover in a little olive oil and Cajun seasoning, and toss in a box with a little cornflour. Bake till crispy.

The Rosemary Pot

I love one-pot recipes, because honestly, no one has the time, energy or counter space for little chef bowls and multiple pans.

Wine-braised rosemary chicken

Sauté chopped onions, garlic and bacon, and then boneless pieces of chicken till brown. Add diced potatoes and broccoli florets and stir. Add a big chopped tomato and a two splashes wine sauce and simmer. Add water and salt as needed and keep stirring to avoid sticking or burning.

After you get to your desired consistency, Add pepper, basil, and finally rosemary. Take off the heat after 5 minutes. Serve on toasted baguette in the fanciest way you can manage, light a candle or two, and have a little date night!

The Chholar Dal

Dal, Bengali style, for when you have company over!

Soak chana dal for an hour before boiling and setting aside. Heat a little oil and let dried red chillies, mustard seeds, ginger paste and whole garam masala (cardamom, bay leaf, nutmeg etc) sputter in it. Add coconut pieces at this stage, if you like. Add the boiled dal and a little water, and simmer till thick. Add a pinch and a half of sugar, and salt to taste. The half-Punjabi in me likes to add a pinch of coriander and cumin powder. Keep it thick! Done!!

The Parcel

Mushroom parcels, or stuff it with whatever!

So I have a lot of puff and shortcrust pastry sheets left over and I'm getting creative.

Thaw puff pastry sheets and cut into squares. Meanwhile heat a little butter and add garlic and chopped mushrooms. Season with salt, oregano and paprika. Take off the heat and cool. Put some on a square of pastry and top with cheese. Then top with another square of pastry and press down on the sides. Brush with egg and bake till golden. 20 minutes to fancy town!