Tadka Dahi

Tadka Dahi (Spiced Yogurt)

Source :by MONICA BHIDE : NPR :December 7, 2011

One of the cooking lessons I took in India was with chef Rohit Gambhir, executive chef at the Trident Hotel in Mumbai. He taught me how to make this amazing yogurt side dish. This recipe is really simple to make but the results are delightful. I have served it as a dip with vegetables and as a side with roasted chicken.

Makes 4 servings

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds

1/2 teaspoon whole cumin seeds

8 to 10 fresh curry leaves*

1 whole dried red chili (any kind)

1/2 cup finely chopped onions (white or red)

1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger

1 green serrano chili, minced (optional)

2 teaspoons ground coriander

1/4 teaspoon cayenne

1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric

1 cup chopped fresh tomatoes

2 1/2 cups Greek-style yogurt

Salt

Sugar (optional)

1 tablespoon finely chopped cilantro

Heat the oil in a skillet until it is almost smoking. Reduce the heat to medium and add the mustard and cumin seeds, curry leaves and whole red chili. Cook until the spices crackle.

Add the onions and saute until they are golden brown. Add the ginger and green chili (if using) and saute for another minute.

Add the coriander, cayenne and turmeric and saute for 10 seconds, until they darken slightly. To prevent the spices from burning, you can add a few drops of water (since this is not the tempering stage, water is allowed).

Reduce the heat to low and add the tomatoes. Cook for 10 to 12 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the mixture is almost dry and the oil begins to separate out. Remove from the heat and allow to cool to room temperature.

Add the yogurt to the onion-tomato mixture and mix well. Season with salt. If the flavor is too tart, stir in a little sugar, up to 1 tablespoon. (You don't want to make the yogurt sweet, just to balance the sourness.) Sprinkle with the chopped cilantro and serve.

*Available at Indian markets

Chef shares lifelong love affair with food

 

Richard Sun, owner of Kurumba, incorporates the flavours of China, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia into his colourful dishes.

Photograph by: Mark Van Manen, PNG, Vancouver Sun

Source  :By Tracey Tufnail, Vancouver Sun December 29, 2011






Sri Lankan owner serves big flavour and generous portions at Kurumba Restaurant




Sri Lankan Richard Sun virtually grew up in the kitchen.


His parents owned a restaurant in Sri Lanka back when the country was under colonial rule and Sun spent much of his childhood there.


"The kitchen was my play-ground," says Sun. "I would experiment, chop up things, get the cooks mad ... so that was life when I was young. I knew that I had a passion for cooking from an early age."


His father taught him the trade and Sun's playground is now his own eatery in Port Moody, Kurumba Restaurant. You will find him and his passion in the kitchen seven days a week from early in the morning until late at night.


Although Sri Lanka is home for Sun, the menu in his restaurant covers a wide variety of Asian cuisines, something that also reflects his love affair for food.


I asked him why he chose not to constrain himself geographically. "Vancouver is such a multicultural place to be in so I thought I would start off with a diversity of dishes, the best that I knew of Asian cuisines."


Diversity seems to be paying off for Sun, he began in 2007 and has never seen the need to narrow his menu's focus.


Kurumba has Thai, Chinese, Malaysian, Indonesia, Singaporean, fusion and, of course, Sri Lankan dishes on its extensive menu - they might taste different from each other but all are infused with Sun's trademark passion.


Sun prides himself on detail, too. "The trick here is to make everything from scratch," he says. Sun grinds most of his own spices for his specialist chili and curry blends, with the exception of turmeric and chili powder.


The handmade care is evident in dishes like Sun's spring rolls, which come in both vegetarian and shrimp and pork versions ($4 and $5 for two rolls). Ours were crisp and not oily and generously filled with obviously fresh ingredients. What a bargain.


Generosity is a recurring theme in many of Sun's dishes.


His roti canai couldn't get much fresher, with Sun making each one of the light, lacy flat breads to order. The starter version we shared came with a delicious hot Sri Lankan-style curry sauce dip ($5.50) and an enormous, umbrella-sized roti. We gobbled up every last morsel - bread this great demands to be eaten hot and fresh.


It is worth trying the Sri Lankan curries - the recipes are Sun's father's. The dark-roasted pork curry (small $10.95, large $14.95) is spicy and sour with a peppery aftertaste. The chicken and beef versions are more traditional, and hotter.


The Malaysian beef rendang (small $10.95, large $14.95) is a well-executed example of a traditional Malay curry, redolent with lemon grass, lime leaves and galangal. Delicious.
The curries are not the only tribute to Sun's dad here - the restaurant name, which means "young coconut," refers to the elder Sun's habit of drinking the juice from a young coconut before doing his purchasing rounds. "It's very good for you," the younger Sun says.
Not wanting spice or heat? You can't do better than Sun's Char Ho Fun ($11.95 for beef or chicken, $13.95 for seafood). No chilies here, the sauce ladled over flat rice noodles is silky with egg and rich with savoury goodness, providing a subtle but complex mix of flavours. Our seafood version was chock full of the featured protein and absolutely enormous - we had two healthy servings and took the remainder home where it served us both for lunch the next day.

The Char Ho Fun dish you are served today was improved with customer input.


"It started off in mid-2008 when my Singaporean and Malaysian customers discovered this dish and gave their feedback. I listened to them and improved the dish and it has evolved to be a best-seller - people were coming from Richmond and Vancouver to eat it," says Sun.
"Kurumba is our passion, even the staff.


"I train the staff myself ... [running a restaurant] is not all about the money. It is about good service and, of course, good food."


And, unsurprisingly, Sun still has some passion left for his customers: " I would like to thank my dear customers. All our success is due to them."


AT A GLANCE
Kurumba Restaurant
107-3003 St. Johns St., Port Moody
Phone: 604-461-2245
Open: Daily 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Kannnada Favourite :How to make…Arisi roti

Source  : The Hindu :15 Dec 2011 :GOKILA RAMARAJ. Photo: Special Arrangement

This dish is a north Kannada favourite. 




I learnt to make it from my mother-in-law.




What you need  :-




Boiled rice – 2 cups




Salt - to taste




Coriander leaves – a few




For sautéing




Mustard seeds - 1tsp




Curry leaves – a few




Green chillies, chopped (optional) - 2




Oil - 2 tsp




Cooking instructions




Soak the rice for atleast four hours.




Grind the rice to a slightly thick, coarse consistency.




In a pan, add oil and sauté mustard seeds, curry leaves and chillies.




Mix it with the prepared flour.




Heat a kadai with oil.




Make small flat rounds of dough and deep fry in the kadai.




Serve hot with coconut chutney.







Gokila Ramaraj is a homemaker who loves to try new dishes.




 Handwork and designing kolams are her other hobbies.

How to bake the perfect cakes for Christmas

Source  :Anoothi Vishal :ET :18 DEC, 2011, 01.16AM IST, 






Christmas is here and if you've forgotten to soak the nuts & raisins in brandy for that perfect cake, here are some options. 

Christmas, according to an unlikely but delightful tome on ancient rituals, legends, and, well, magic (Ancient Wisdom by Cassandra Eason), is a continuation of older pagan festivals marking the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year, when the ancients prayed for the birth of a "new" sun. 


The Persians had a mid-winter feast, for instance, where they kindled great fires to mark the birth of Mithras, their sun god. In northern Europe, Odin, rode, Santa-like, through the sky on his chariot dropping presents, which he also left at the foot of his sacred pine (the modern Christmas tree?). 

The Romans celebrated Saturnalia for seven days, beginning December 19, where debauched, old Father Time (Saturn) was replaced by a new sun god born in a cave; elsewhere, fir branches were hung out to encourage other trees to grow, Yule logs (which we perhaps see only as pastry) were burnt to "give life" to the new sun, and in general, the year-end was celebrated as a time for regeneration, spiritual and otherwise. 

Each of these festivities also had rituals of cooking and eating. In fact, the Christmas pudding that has become so popular even in India today (where Christmas has typically comprised appams and stew, or indeed the Bebinca (a layered cake from Goa) was, till the 16th century, really a porridge with fruits, grains and a piece of metal (a silver coin) to represent the Earth's fertility. 

THE HOME BAKER 

Today, of course, it is synonymous with rich plum cake, where nuts and raisins need to be soaked in brandy for at least a month, as Delhi's "home-baker" Aparna Pasricha insists.

Those of you who missed the bus, yet insist on baking one, need not despair. 

Chef Prashant Anand from the Westin in Gurgaon, who customises cakes for clients, gives a simple recipe:

 mix together 1 kg dried fruits, orange and lemon zest, three eggs,

 100 g maida, 

150 g bread crumbs, 

250 g brown sugar and

 butter each.

 Add 1 tsp each of clove, nutmeg and five-spice powders

 (should you not have these, add a little garam masala, says the chef). 

Add 150 ml of either brandy or beer or whisky and keep this batter in the fridge for 48 hours so that the nuts can soak in all the flavours and alcohol. 

Finally, steam-bake (place the baking pan in a container of water), at 120 degrees.

The trick to any successful baking is that you must follow all the instructions, and that includes exact measurements. 

"If a recipe says 1-1/3 spoon, even that 1/3 is important," cautions Pasricha.

 This is exactly what my own baking teachers, including my aunt Minoo Rishi, who would teach me during summer holidays in school, always said. 

An inability to follow rules unquestioningly has been my undoing - the only cake I bake today is the easiest; with equal parts of flour, butter (or oil) and eggs (each egg roughly weighs 50 g), which can be enhanced by adding carrots and walnuts, or merely grating some chocolate over. 

LOOK! A Jesus made from chocolate

Source :Agence France-Presse : HT :Dec23, 2011

Chocolatiers in Lebanon have created a life-sized nativity scene using 120,000 red, green, silver and gold foil-wrapped bonbons to embellish Baby Jesus, Joseph and the Virgin Mary.

It took 37 designers and craftsmen from Chantilly Chocolatier and 720 hours to create the edible nativityscene, which is on display at a popular shopping mall north of Beirut.

Baby Jesus is swaddled in a blanket of gold foil-wrapped bonbons and Mary is resplendent in a flowing robe studded with green, red and gold chocolates in a scene that spans 70 square meters.

It's not the first time the nativity scene has been re-enacted in edible form. Chocolatiers from Galleros Artesanos in Cordoba have for the past few years been recreating the Christmas story in chocolate -- the largest in Spain -- drawing thousands of visitors to the town of Rute every year.

La Crèche en Chocolat, meanwhile, will remain on display until January 8 at CityMall in Dora, Lebanon, and all chocolates will be donated to local charities.

For more photos, visit the chocolate maker's Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/chantillychocolatier.

Molecular gastronomy demystified

 

Source :Shara Ashraf, Hindustan Times:New Delhi, November 11, 2011

What’s a chef got to do with a microscope?

 That’s the first thought that comes to your mind as you walk into chef Gresham Fernandes’ kitchen at the newly opened Smoke House Room, Lado Sarai.

You look around and realise it’s not just the scope — the laboratory-esque kitchen is full of 

outlandish equipment, bottles and instruments that don’t give you a clue about what they are.

Just when you start feeling a tad lost, you find the pseudonymous Banksy telling you from over the kitchen exhaust: “Think outside the box, collapse the box, and take a f**king sharp knife to it.” And that’s when chef Gresh (that’s how he is popularly known as) enters grinning, all set to break the intimidating image of his art for you. The molecular gastronomy specialist surprises you with his edgy, daring dishes such as the porcini ice-cream with coffee marshmallows,  the black cod with charred coconut miso or the salmon bagel served with lime air.

He says he infuses science in his cooking “not because it’s trendy” but because the precision helps him celebrate colour, texture and flavour at an enhanced level.

“If you look at a plate that follows the principles of molecular gastronomy, you will notice bursts of colours, unparalleled textures. It challenges the boundaries of what an ingredient is capable of doing, for instance, making ice cream out of bacon,” he says. He is also not at home with the “Beethoven definitions” of molecular gastronomy. “Many would tell you it’s an ‘experimental’ cuisine, but I believe that it’s about applying the basics of science to food. It’s about understanding the dynamics of each ingredient and eventually creating the perfect dish,” he says.

So, what hooked him to molecular gastronomy? “When I first took over a kitchen, I found myself wondering why is oil lighter than water? What is density? Nobody could answer these questions. I revisited all the science lessons I had skipped in school and got obsessed with breaking down the word ‘why’? Till date I prefer cooking with a micro-scale and calculator,” says the chef.

His fixation with precision is exactly why you see equipment such as dehydrators, foamers, vacuumisers and syringes line up his shelves. About the outlandish chemicals he fancies, such as the spherification and jelling agents, he says, “Is salt not a chemical? If I am using hydrochlorides, I am using them for a reason. They help maintain water in the product. I belong to the new generation of chefs who want to break a few rules and make a mark.”

And are people willing to experiment and pay a higher cost for his futuristic treats?

“Yes and no. Molecular gastronomy isn’t cheap, but you can’t call it exorbitant considering the unique dining experience it provides and the expensive equipment it entails,” says the chef.  But he agrees that molecular gastronomy might not be everyone’s idea of fine dining, especially those who love hearty portions.

“Molecular gastronomy is about subtlety. You might find a dish meagre in size, but it’s scope and the tasting palate is caters to is vast. Gourmands who understand this never hesitate to pay,” says chef Gresh.

Eat banana to keep cravings at bay

Source :  :Kavita Devgan, Hindustan Times:New Delhi, December 17, 2011
Winter is on to us. And so are the hunger pangs that strike so often now. If you are looking for a foolproof way to diminish hunger then turn to a banana.


Surprised? Don’t be. The banana is considered an anomaly in fruits; a food that leads to weight gain. But that’s not true. Rather, bananas are a zero fat food loaded with resistant starch (RS), a healthy carbohydrate that fills you up and keeps those cravings away.

Plus, they help boost metabolism. And what’s more, resistant starch consumption is associated with lower cholesterol and triglyceride levels and better calcium and magnesium absorption in the body. Slightly under-ripe, firm, medium-sized bananas give you 4.7 grams of resistant starch, perfect to keep you full for a long duration.

Other high RS foods are bulgur wheat (dalia), corn, barley, brown rice, lentils and potato.

All in one fruit
The banana has a lot going for it. Compare it to an apple, a banana has four times the protein, twice the carbohydrates, three times the potassium and twice the vitamin C, iron and phosphorous than the fruit that apparently keeps the doctor away. And what’s more, a medium banana contains less than 100 calories. Not bad at all!

Ever noticed that the banana is a hot favourite with athletes? That’s because it contains three natural sugars – sucrose, fructose and glucose – combined with an extra large dose of fibre, so it gives an instant boost along with sustained and substantial energy.

Bananas are chock-a-block with tryptophan, which gets converted into serotonin in the body. And serotonin is known to make you relax and improve your mood. It has high iron content and so has the ability to stimulate haemoglobin production in the bloodstream.

The high fibre content of bananas keeps the digestion humming along, so it beats constipation effectively without resort to laxatives. Bananas have a natural antacid effect in the body, so if you suffer from heartburn, try eating a banana for soothing relief.

If had with a little salt, it effectively treats dysentery too.

The potassium found in bananas keeps blood pressure down and also helps to promote bone health. It helps counteract the increased urinary calcium loss caused by the high salt diets typical of today’s times, thus helping to prevent bones from thinning at a too-fast rate.

Good to know
Bananas are a perfect Rescue Recipe for those trying to junk the cancer stick. The vitamins B6 and B12 and high potassium and magnesium found in it help the body recover from the effects of nicotine withdrawal.

“Ukutya Kwasekhaya”-Tastes from Nelson Mandela’s Kitchen gathers

Source :HT:AFP:21 Dec 2011

Cookbooks are competing with more serious works on Nelson Mandela in South African bookshops this Christmas, after the icon’s personal chef has published a collection of her choicest dishes.

Xoliswa Ndoyiya’s book, “Ukutya Kwasekhaya (home cooking) – Tastes from Nelson Mandela’s Kitchen gathers 62 recipes with short family anecdotes about the hero.

The book offers recipes from lemon Brussels sprouts to curried mango rice salad, paella, nine kinds of soup, orange turkey, various chicken dishes, and mama’s meatballs.

“Those are not all my recipes. I do have more than that!” said the 49-year-old chef, smiling. Also known as Xoli, she caught the cooking bug from her grandmother, who cooked for a white family.

Xoli’s story sadly is typical of many black South Africans.
Brought up in a rural township, she found a job as domestic worker first with a white family in Johannesburg, then in a Jewish old age home.

Her first husband was killed in the township violence between Mandela’s African National Congress (ANC) and a rival contender for power, the Zulu Inkhata Freedom Party (IFP), in the early 1990s right before the end of apartheid. Her second husband died in a car accident.

The chef’s four children were raised in the countryside by her mother and sister, 800 kilometres (500 miles) from Johannesburg.
But then Xoli met Mandela.

A friend pulled a few strings and she got the job as his cook in 1992, two years before Mandela won South Africa’s first multiracial general elections and became president.

Since then, Xoliswa Ndoyiya has fed not only the statesman, but also his family, ANC leaders, foreign heads of state and famous visitors like Michael Jackson. American talk-show queen Oprah Winfrey was especially fond of Xoli’s creamy potatoes, it seems.

Home cooking is Xoli’s trademark, as the book’s title suggests – ‘He eats whatever I cook’

Like Mandela, now 93-year-old, frail and living back in the Eastern Cape village he left as a youngster, she too is Xhosa and also hails from this impoverished province in the south of the country.

And she followed him when he left Johannesburg in July to return to his home town of Qunu.
“Wherever he goes, I am going with him,” she said.

The Mandela family adopted Xoli as one of their own, and she even mothered the grandchildren “Madiba” — Mandela’s tribal name — had living with him, while her own children were far away.

Under her watch, Mandela’s table turned into a culinary melting-pot, integrating traditional Xhosa cuisine, South African classics like sour milk (amasi) and Jewish dishes she learnt from her previous employers.

There were also some foreign influences, like kid-pleasing hamburgers for the children and some hearty Italian lasagna dishes.

The chef’s cooking continues to evolve, with for example, the addition of garlic after Mandela married Graca Machel in 1998, the widow of former Mozambican president Samora Machel — garlic being a key ingredient in dishes of the former Portuguese colony.

And what about Mandela’s taste?

“He eats whatever I cook!” she said, adding that South Africa’s first black president has a weakness for peppery dishes.

“But he prefers the traditional fare. If you don’t give it to him for a few days, he will ask: “What’s wrong? Why are you not feeding me well?”

According to Xoli, some of Mandela’s favourite dishes are oxtail stew (umsila wenkomo), maize kernels or samp with beans (umngqusho), or tripe (ulusu), all in the cookbook. Another favourite, lamb head and tongue, was not included in the book.

The cook becomes emotional when she recalls one episode when she sent umphokoqo (maize meal porridge with sour milk) by plane to London because Mandela had had enough of English cooking.

“Ukutya Kwasekhaya”, co-written with food critic Anna Trapido, is one of the few cookbooks in South Africa that includes recipes of traditional African dishes.

A taste of old Madras at The Rain Tree, Chennai

Source :The Hindu :KASTURI RAMANATHAN:21 Dec 2011

The Raintree's Madras offers a sumptuous spread of food from the South.

In the same space, earlier, under the same name of Madras at The Raintree, was a coastal cuisine dine-in. But now, with a changeover in what they offer but under the same name, Madras has dived into three new cultures!

The restaurant's named Madras not only because it caters to the Chennai population and also because the old Madras Presidency was a union of current day Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and parts of Kerala.

This dine-in restaurant welcomes you into its traditional fold with piping hotrasam or well churned buttermilk. Pappad and spiced vegetables keep you company while you read through the vast menu card. Written in the vernacular, a sense of connection hits you!

The spread

The Aarambham (Tamil for beginning) spreads across the three states — theMakka Cholam Masala (corn nibblets with raw mango), Palkati Kodamolanga Varuval (Cottage Cheese and Capsicum), Prawns with Karuvapillai (curry leaves), Avoli Porichatu (Pomfret fried), Poricha Kozhi Thalichatu (Chicken fried), seer fish wrapped in banana leaves and Mutton Chukka Varuval are worth a try — all of them served with four sweet and spicy chutneys (two from AP and two from TN).

In particular, the pineapple chutney tops the chart. All the non-veg items on the platter (especially the prawns and pomfret) were well marinated and seasoned.

The Tambalam/Bhojanam or Sapadu could be marked as a perfect replica of home cooked food. The Tamil style predominantly pertains to only the Tanjore and Chettinad cooking.

A variety of curries, gravies and masalas from these State-cuisines are accompanied by biriyanis, aapams and kottu parothas. They have only an a-la-carte menu along with the thali for the chef feels that the Indian cooking styles are not very appealing, when served cold on the buffet table.

Crowd favourite

The only difference between their lunch and dinner menus is the Thali. Offered only for lunch, it has always had the maximum takers! With delicacies from all three regions, they have a wide range of chutneys, papads, dal (amazingly light),sambhar, a few gravies, curds and pickle that accompany the Malabar parathasand rice.

This set-meal remains the same for both veg and non-veg combinations; the only addition for the non-veg thali being the inclusion of two more curries (any two from the usual chicken/fish/mutton/prawns).

Three desserts follow — usually a payasam, one ice-cream scoop and one Indian sweet.

Timings: Lunch – 12:30 to 3pm; Dinner – 7:30 to 11:30 pm

Location: The Raintree Hotel, Anna Salai

A meal for two costs approximately: Rs. 1500

Thali prices: Rs. 450 (veg) and Rs. 550 (non-veg)

Kasturi Ramanathan is a Second Year B.Com Professional Student at Christ University, Bengaluru.

'Crown'ing experience at Residency Towers,Chennai

source : The Hindu :21 Dec 2011

Much to her delight, Vanessa Bagdy is served a list of mouth-watering dishes at The Crown, Residency Towers.

The Crown at The Residency Towers, is a roof-top restaurant serving Indo-Western cuisine. As I entered the place seemed quiet and serene. It has two sections — an oval-shaped room called The Dome which is beautifully spaced with swanky interiors including a noticeably elegant chandelier that offers richness to the setup.

The outer section is where I decided to spend the evening only because it was simply irresistible — the wind blowing through your hair, the awe-inspiring view of the city's skyline definitely makes it a “crowning” place to spend an evening!

Enriching

As I had just started to enjoy the weather, I was served an extensive variety of starters: Bharwan Malai Khumb, a tasty combination of cream cheese, herbs and mushrooms; Chowki Tikki made with stuffed aloo and mutter was exquisite;Mahi Gulnar and Lasooni Jhinga were cooked precisely and retained all their marinated flamboyance.

The standout-dish was the Sofiani Paneer, which melted in your mouth, bringing out the glutton in you and the Champ-e-Murgh was simply lush! They say a good restaurant can be rated with the sea food it serves and the sea food served here was authentic.

After the wonderful round of starters came the main course. Crisp rotis andAloo Da Kulcha served with a variety of side dishes such as a richly made Khoya Paneer Masaledar, Wadi Aloo Tamttar which is a Punjabi recipe made with such perfection that the ingredients actually come all the way from Amritsar.

The Kadai Chicken was like a fusion of my mom's cooking and the chef's culinary skill. Rarely do you find a chef who can match his creation with a glass of wine and here at The Crown I was served with the apt wine to go with my meal making the tasting complete.

A meal is never complete without “kuch meetha” and the Fig Halwa was definitely the cherry on the icing.

The service was affable. The food served was not spicy but very tasty and infused with flavour. If you are looking for a place to spend a memorable evening with your family, friends or partners or even a one-stop drop to delight your taste buds, this is the pleu.

The Crown is at: The Residency Towers, 115, Thyagaraya Road, T. Nagar; Ph: 044 28156363

Vanessa is a III Year CSE student at Anna University.

Chicken and eggs can boost memory function

Source : The Hindu :ANI : New York :6 Dec 2011

Including eggs and chicken in one’s diet may help boost memory, a new study has found.

This is because the essential nutrient ‘choline’ found in eggs may sharpen aging brains, the report said.

Rhoda Au and her team of researchers from Boston University School of Medicine performed the long-term health study on 1,400 adults, spanning 10 years, New York Daily News reported.

They found that those participants who ate diets packed with plenty of choline, an essential nutrient found in eggs, performed better in memory tests and were less likely to acquire brain changes associated with dementia than those who consumed less choline in their diets.

Other foods high in choline include legumes like soy and kidney beans, saltwater fish, liver and milk, according to Australian news website ninemsn.

According to The Huffington Post UK, Au said that “no one nutrient is a magic bullet against dementia".