Caramalised garlic

There is so much you can do with garlic. Roast it, pickle it or caramelise it. Here, I use balsamic vinegar to caramelise and preserve the garlic cloves. Garlic cooked this way is a fusion of sweet (sugar), sour (vinegar) and spicy (pepper), and complements so many soups, salads, breads and other bakes. I always use some extra olive oil, which tends to float on top of the caramel and is loaded with bags of flavour from the garlic. I use this oil to brush the crusts of oven fresh bread or as a dressing for salads. Its simply so so good.

Ingredients

1-3 large garlic pods
3 tablespoons olive oil
6 tablespoons water
2 1/2 tablespoons balsamic vingegar
6 tablespoons light brown sugar
2 tsp salt
Some black pepper
Fresh/dried rosemary

Method

Shred the garlic pod apart and place the garlic cloves in a bowl. Pour boiling water over the cloves and allow to rest for 2 minutes. Now, drain the hot water and place them in cold water for a few minutes. Peel the garlic cloves and saute them mildly in a non-stick pan with some olive oil and rosemary. Then, add the sugar, water, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper. Allow the mixture to simmer for 6-10 minutes or until the sugar is completely caramelised and forms a sticky liquid. Place it in an airtight bowl and use as required.

Stores in the refrigerator for up to two weeks. 

Rigatoni with crude almond-chilly sauce served with a rocket and rosewater salad

When I want to make a pasta dish, nothing can stop me. Regrettably, I don't have a pasta maker at home, so I have to do with commercially available pasta. Somewhere along the way I will get one of those nice pasta makers, with the fettuccine and ravioli cutter. But for now, I must be content with what I can get.

This sauce is my trademark recipe. And everyone who has ever tasted it has asked me for the recipe. It is a tomato and cream based sauce; but the real heroes are the almonds (or walnuts, whatever suits you). I make many versions of this sauce, but the most quick and crude one, as this, involves no blending and no fine chopping. Everything is just cut up coarsely and simply simmered in a saucepan and poured over cooked pasta. I used rigatoni, but use whatever you have handy- spaghetti, fettuccine, fusilli- basically any pasta. If you are serving this for a dinner party, you could blend the sauce to make it smooth and even. But, for me the crude version fits best; I like the textural effect on my palate.

I used some white wine in the pasta, to de-glaze the saucepan before adding the tomatoes. Again, superb flavour quotient. Make sure that you use a nice rich white wine. Always cook with a wine that you would think suitable to drink. Nothing lesser.

The salad absolutely compliments the pasta. It is not always necessary to serve some sort of bread with the pasta. Try salads instead. That gives you a mixture of hot and soft (pasta) against cold and crunchy (salad); and every good chef will tell you that balanced colours, textures and flavours make a good dish. Also here, the sweetness of the almond sauce is well balanced by the sharpness and slight bitterness of the rocket leaves in the salad. The flavours marry well together, and you have to try it to know what I'm talking about. 

The dressing for the salad is quite the usual; just a few minor tweaks- I used some rosewater, some maple syrup instead of honey, and some white wine vinegar (keeping in mind the white wine in the pasta) instead of the usual vinegar or juice of lime. I served the salad with a dollop of thickened sour cream, which unfortunately, I forgot to add before clicking the pictures. Some of you may find the rocket leaves a bit too tart, and hence the sour cream.

Too much said already. Here goes.
Prep time: 20-30min
Cooking time: 20min
Serves: 2-3 people

Ingredients

Rocket Salad

1 bunch rocket leaves, washed, dried and end of stalks removed

6-10 cherry tomatoes, halved

5-6 black olives, pitted and sliced

1 medium onion, sliced, rings separated and placed in ice water till serving time (this keeps them crunchy)

1 small cucumber, cubed with peel

5-6 almonds, roasted and sliced

3-4 stalks asparagus, pan fried with butter, salt, and pepper; chopped medium

100g thickened sour cream for serving

Dressing for salad

2tsp olive oil

1 tsp rosewater

2 tsp maple syrup

2 tsp white wine vinegar

Zest of half a lime

2-3 cloves of garlic, shredded

Pinch of ground black pepper

Salt to taste

Rigatoni 
150g rigatoni pasta or any other pasta, boiled with salt, drained and tossed with 1tsp olive oil
2tsp olive oil
1 pod roasted garlic, peeled
2-3 dry red chilies
5-6 almonds, room temperature
4-5 leaves of sweet Thai basil,  keep 1 sprig aside for garnish
2 sprigs of fresh thyme
Splosh of white wine
5 medium tomatoes, chopped roughly
1 red bell pepper, chopped medium
50g mild cheddar, grated
50ml full fat milk
A dash of full cream
A pinch of ground black pepper
Salt to taste

Method

Rocket Salad

In a large bowl, add all the ingredients for the salad. Keep refrigerated until serving time. Pour the dressing over the salad just before serving (to prevent veggies from sweating) and toss gently. Serve cold with a dollop of sour cream.

Rigatoni
Coarsely blend the roasted garlic, dry red chilies and almonds. Heat olive oil in a sauce pan. Add the almond-chilly mixture. Stir for 2min until the mixture is slightly golden. Now add the aromatics, the thyme and basil leaves. Use your discretion while adding these, more if you want intense flavours, less if you like it mild. But with fresh herbs, always remember that less is more. Now add a generous splosh of white wine. Allow the spices to simmer for 2 minutes, stirring gently.

Add the chopped tomatoes, pinch of salt and pepper. Simmer for 10-12 minutes or until the tomatoes are completely cooked. At this point, you could take the sauce off the flame, allow to cool and blend to get a smooth mixture. If you prefer to go my way, then just continue to keep the crude sauce on the flame and go on with the rest of the recipe.

Once the tomatoes are done, add full fat milk and cream. Simmer for 2 minutes. Please make sure not to add the cream when the tomatoes are half done, this will just split the cream. Add the red bell pepper, stir for 2-5 minutes. Add the cheddar, and take the sauce off the flame. Pour the sauce steaming hot on a bed of rigatoni, serve with a cold salad.

Nachos with mexican beans and hot salsa

I can eat, drink, sleep, and walk nachos. My friends will vouch for it. In fact, they are so exasperated with my nacho gluttony that they refuse to go out to a restaurant with me if I order any! And yet, I give them the sad puppy look as soon as I’ve scanned the restaurant menu and found my nachos. They gawk at the sight of them first, but after a while...everyone digs into the sour cream or the hot salsa.  And before you know it, everyone’s trying to lick the melted cheese off their fingers. It’s fate.

Without further ado, I present to you an easy to make Mexican bean mix, and hot salsa to go with your nachos...for the girl’s pyjama party, the stag game night or the kids’ weekend picnic...or just for the sake of simple indulgence!

Serves: 2

Preparation time: 15 min

Cooking time: 45 min (including time for the beans to cook)

Ingredients

For Mexican bean mix

Mexican kidney beans, soaked overnight, washed, rinsed and cooked with salt

1 onion, chopped fine

1 green bell pepper, chopped fine

Mexican spice mix (available at gourmet stores, try brand ‘keya’)

1 garlic whole, unpeeled

Fresh curly parsley, chopped fine

Red chilli flakes

Juice of half a lime

Ground black pepper

A pinch of sugar

Olive oil

Salt to taste

For garnish

1 yellow bell pepper, julienned

Nacho liquid cheese (I use ‘Go’ Nacho Cheese)

Fresh curly parsley, 1 sprig

Extra virgin olive oil, to drizzle

Method
Roast a whole garlic (smashed up with the back of a knife) with olive oil, sea salt and some fresh thyme in a preheated oven at 200°C for 15 min. Remove, peel and use as required.

Heat some olive oil in a non-stick wide saucepan.  To this add the roasted garlic and onions; and sauté till well browned and caramelised. Now add the green bell pepper and stir for one minute. Add the cooked kidney beans. Season with salt, a pinch of sugar, pepper and red chilli flakes. Add the chopped parsley and the Mexican spice mix. Stir well; cover and allow the beans to soak in the flavours. Now partly mash the beans up and squeeze the juice of half a lime into the bean mix.

Serve up the nachos on a wide platter, layer with the bean mix, top it off with some nacho cheese and finally drizzle some extra virgin olive oil. Garnish with a sprig of parsley. Place in a microwave oven for 20 sec and serve warm with a hot salsa dip ( click to find my blog for this recipe). Make your own sour cream dip for a spicy and subtle mix.

Fusilli with rosemary cream sauce

Rosemary is my favourite of all the Italian herbs. There are a million ways to use this herb and this one is the simplest. It provides such a beautiful base flavour to the cream sauce that you don’t need much else to carry it through. I have kept the sauce very simple with basic seasoning and simple veggies that you can buy from your vendor next door. This is a very easy and quick recipe, perfectly suited for a small bunch of girlfriends on a girls’ stay-over night, or even a candle light dinner date. Creamy, cheesy and so more-ish!




Serves: 3-4
Prep time: 20min
Cooking time: 20min


Ingredients
Fusilli pasta, 1 fistful per person
3-4 cloves of garlic finely chopped
1tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1tbsp butter
1½ tbsp plain flour
400-500ml milk
Black olives, pitted and sliced
1 Green bell pepper, chopped into medium cubes
1 onion chopped into medium cubes
2-3 sprigs of fresh rosemary
2-3tbsp fresh cream
Grated parmesan cheese
Grated processed cheese, 1 cube
Nutmeg powder
Tabasco sauce
¼ tsp ground black pepper
Salt to taste

Method
Boil water in a big saucepan. Add the fusilli to the boiling water with some salt and a few drops of olive oil. Allow the pasta to cook 3/4ths and drain into a sieve. Pour cold water on the cooked pasta to cool it, and prevent it from clumping together. Loosen the pasta with your fingers; add a few more drops of olive oil if required. Keep aside.

For the sauce, heat butter in a non-stick saucepan. Add flour and roast until golden brown on a low flame. Remove from heat, and allow it to cool completely. Add 2‑3tbsp milk to the cooled flour and mix thoroughly dissolving any lumps. Add rest of the milk to the pan and simmer for 5-6 min, stirring continuously till the sauce thickens. Season with salt and ground black pepper; add the grated processed cheese, fresh cream and a sprig of rosemary. Add a pinch of nutmeg powder and a few drops of Tabasco sauce. Keep aside.

Heat olive oil and some butter in a non-stick saucepan. Add the chopped garlic and sauté for a minute till brown. Add a sprig of rosemary, and the cubed onions. Sauté till the onions golden. Now add the olives and green bell peppers. Season with salt and ground black pepper. Stir for a minute. To this, add the cooked fusilli, and the cream sauce. Boil for 2-3 minutes until all the elements come together. Mix gently, making sure not to disrupt the fusilli.

Serve with a fresh sprig of rosemary and some grated parmesan cheese.

Bench notes
Be careful while you make the sauce, as the smallest of lumps can change the consistency of the sauce.

Do not overcook the pasta. Remember to drain it while it is still only 3/4ths cooked. The intrinsic heat will help it to cook through within no time; and the pasta will cook again in the final sauce.

This cream sauce is very versatile in its flavouring. Add one herb, or many. Use dried oregano, or fresh basil, or a mixture of fresh rosemary and thyme. You can even make a sauce with sage leaves and scatter roasted pine nuts on top; or tarragon leaves with a splodge of lemon juice. Serve with a cold Greek salad or just a few rocket leaves dressed with salt, pepper and olive oil. The options are never-ending.

You can grow many of these herbs in your garden, or even in one big pot kept in your balcony. Most of these require medium sunshine, and can be grown together in one large, wide pot. They grow well in our winter months, but might be unable to sustain the dreadful summer heat; and so growing them in a pot will give you the flexibility to control temperature, sunshine, rain etc. Most of these herbs will be available in winter in local nurseries. Not that exotic anymore, are they?

Saffron ice-cream with dried figs poached in an orange reduction

I had to make something from the saffron that my husband brought from Kashmir last month; and I didn’t want to do the usual ‘biryani’ or ‘kheer’! So what more interesting that my very own version of the ‘kesar badam’ ice-cream! My version is more of a shrikhand ice-cream with buttermilk as a basic ingredient. This adds a favourable sourness to the ice-cream, making it less rich, and yet soft and creamy. I have slightly changed the flavour profile by eliminating the almonds and adding some cardamom powder instead. It is egg less, and doesn’t require the making of custard; the ingredients are just whisked together and chilled! S-I-M-P-L-E!

It is absolutely necessary that you use saffron strings and not an essence, as the whole flavour quotient of the ice-cream lies in the saffron. Use the saffron sparingly, a little goes a long way! Since the flavours in the ice-cream are so muted, I have done a sweet and tangy orange reduction (fresh juicy oranges are in season) to cut the monotony of the ice-cream. It would be ideal to use fresh figs to poach in the reduction, but dried figs work as well. The fruit neutralizes the sharpness of the orange syrup and adds texture to an otherwise creamy dessert. Every bite should surprise you, shouldn’t it?

I love to mix flavours and textures, and savour food that feels different with every bite! As you play with ingredients and understand the harmony of flavours, you will see what a difference it makes to your dishes. That’s exactly what makes you go back to your favourite restaurant every time and order for the same dish!

I did not use an ice-cream churner to make this ice-cream; instead I just placed the ice-cream in an air tight container in the freezer, removed it every half hour, blended it in the mixer and put it back to freeze again. This will prevent the formation of icicles in your ice-cream giving it the desired creaminess, and the right temperature that won’t make your teeth cry when you take a bite.




Serves: 3-4 scoops
Prep time: 10 min
Cooking time: 20 min (plus the time you need to blend the ice-cream every half hour)

Ingredients
Ice-cream
1 cup double cream
scant ¼ tsp saffron threads, loosely packed
1 ½ cup buttermilk
¼ cup caster sugar
pinch of salt
pinch of cardamom powder
1 tbsp lemon juice, to taste

Orange reduction
½ cup fresh orange juice
2 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
6 dried figs

Method
Ice-cream
Bring ¼ cup milk to a slow simmer, take off the heat and add the saffron threads to bloom their flavour. Cool the saffron-infused milk. Keep aside.

Whisk the double cream and buttermilk together. Add the caster sugar, pinch of salt, pinch of cardamom powder and the lemon juice, to taste. Adjust the sugar to your taste if you'd like a sweeter ice cream. Pour into a clean airtight container.

Chill thoroughly, preferably for 2-3 hours for the first time. Once the ice-cream in chilled, remove and churn in a blender every half hour to dissolve the icicles (they will form because of the water content in the buttermilk). Do this 4-5 times or until the ice-cream turns a creamy consistency. Refrigerate and serve cold.

Orange reduction
Punch tiny holes into the figs with a fork. Combine the orange juice, sugar and vinegar in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the figs to the pan. Bring just to a boil and reduce, turning the heat down to medium-low. Continue cooking until it thickens and is reduced by about half. The mixture will continue to thicken as it cools. Once cooled, serve along with the ice-cream.