Water

...with a dash of basil. A theme for Liquid Comfort!

It’s amazing to see everyone’s contribution to this month's Click: Liquid Comfort.

Though there are so many things that come to my to mind, the one thing that stands out as an all time liquid comfort is Water....more so with a leaf of Tulsi.

Tulsi or the sacred Indian basil has remained an integral part a part of most Indian rituals and traditions, probably from times immemorial. Apart from being a rich antioxidant, Tulsi, is also known to serve as a natural immuno-modulator.

What I love the most about this plant and its leaves is the aroma. Throw a Tulsi leaf in a glass of water…and water doesn’t taste the same. The strong scent totally transforms water into something very unique. This combination is a good stress reliever and also very soothing.

So here goes my entry.....

This picture was shot in the evening, the only processing done: brightness and contrast adjustments, apart from inserting the border and watermark.

Corn Croquettes

Corn has remained one of our favorites in the family of cereal grains. Tired of eating it as usual, on the cob, I thought I’d experiment a little and churn out croquettes, instead.

Well, I wasnt following any recipe, so it was sheer imagination at work. I pulled out a cup of frozen kernels of corn from the freezer and thawed it at room temperature for about 30 minutes. Then prepared a list of ingredients from the pantry. It was right then that I realized that I was running out of breadcrumbs. In no mood to drive all the way to the grocery store just to get a pack of breadcrumbs or a loaf of bread to make the crumbs at home, I decided to use Semolina as a substitute.

Semolina always has a place reserved on my grocery list. It’s the easiest thing to use and fix a quick meal or breakfast. More on Semolina

I pressure cooked the corn after thawing and sautéed all the ingredients. As I didn’t want the skin of the kernel to interfere while eating, I decided to blend all the sautéed ingredients without water, make croquettes of the batter, roll in semolina and pan fry, instead of the regular deep frying.

Ingredients

1 cup corn, pressure cooked and drained
1 medium sized onion, finely diced
½ teaspoon Ginger paste
½ teaspoon Garlic paste (You could use 1 teaspoon of Ginger-Garlic paste, instead)
½ teaspoon Fennel seeds
½ teaspoon Cumin seeds
¼ cup whole wheat flour (A good alternative would be Chickpea flour /Besan)
¼ teaspoon Turmeric powder
¼ teaspoon Red Chili Powder

¼ cup diced Tomatoes
2 cups Semolina (Sooji Rava) or Bread crumbs
Salt
2 ½ tablespoons Oil
Cilantro, finely chopped

Method

Dry roast whole wheat flour for 2-3 minutes. Set aside.

Heat a tablespoon of oil; add fennel seeds, cumin seeds and onion. Sauté for 3-4 minutes or till onion turns transparent. Add tomatoes, ginger paste, garlic paste, turmeric powder and red chili powder. Mix well and sauté till onion turns golden brown and the ginger-garlic paste is cooked.

Add the dry roasted whole wheat flour. Mix well.

Throw in the pressure cooked (and drained) corn kernels. Do not add water. Add salt. Mix well. Cook covered for 4-5 minutes on medium flame.

Remove from flame, add finely chopped cilantro. Mix well. Allow to cool to room temperature.

Sprinkle 1 cup of semolina on an even flat surface.

Blend the mixture at low speed, without water, till it gets a thick dry batter like consistency. If it’s too soft or watery add a little more of the roasted wheat flour to thicken.

Scoop out a teaspoon of the mixture, press or roll in the semolina to make croquettes. Set aside for 5-7 minutes, so that the semolina binds the mixture and holds it together. Repeat for all of the mixture.

Heat 1 ½ tablespoons oil in a pan. Place 3 croquettes, one by one, and fry for 2-3 minutes till done. Flip over and cook the second side for 2-3 minutes or till done. Repeat for the rest of the croquettes.

Garnish with chopped cilantro and serve hot with ketchup.

Outcome

It was a true Eureka moment in the kitchen! The sweetness of the corn and the aroma of the fennel seeds complemented each other. The recipe yields about 6-8 croquettes. If you like corn, then this would be a good try. For additional spice, add chopped green chilies along with the ginger –garlic paste.

Oven Roasted Garlic

“Most dear actors, eat no onions nor garlic, for we are to utter sweet breath.”
......wrote William Shakespeare in "A Midsummer Night’s Dream".

Yet, the popularity of garlic has forever remained high as it is sure to transform any serving of food into an aromatic and healthy culinary experience.

Historically known to cure ailments, garlic is a common condiment in most households. Ours is not an exception. What we like best about garlic is that the intensity of its pungency varies depending on the style in which it is cooked.

One of our favorites is oven roasted garlic. On a cold wintery evening, a serving of warm roasted garlic works perfect with a glass of wine. The best part - its aroma - that travels from the oven through the entire home to tease the senses.

Once roasted the firm texture of each clove softens and can be squeezed out of its sheath. I prefer pulling the cloves out of the oven when they are just done and not very soft.

A drizzle of olive oil, a dash of salt and freshly crushed pepper on warm roasted garlic tastes like no other. The pungency is mild and is shadowed by its sweetness that hits the taste buds a little later.

Ingredients

1 pod of Garlic (Any variety, medium sized)
1½ teaspoon Olive oil
½ teaspoon freshly crushed black pepper
Salt to taste
A pinch of paprika powder
¼ teaspoon of finely chopped parsley

Method

- Pre-heat oven to 350F.

- Separate the cloves (with peel on) from the pod. Place the cloves in a oven safe dish and roast for 10-15 min.

- Turn off the oven, but let the cloves sit in it for 5 min. Pull the cloves out of the oven and slowly remove the peel off each clove while warm.

- Drizzle olive oil over the cloves. Add salt and crushed pepper. Garnish with a dash of paprika powder and finely chopped parsley. Serve warm.

We love combining roasted garlic with basil pesto (store bought or home made) and marinara sauce in place of dips. The flavors come together and don’t overpower that of the roasted garlic.

In short, oven roasted garlic is a fantastic treat to the palate....and a must if you love garlic in your meal, like us.

These roasted cloves of garlic go out to Sunita’s Think Spice...Think Garlic .

Wild Rice Salad

I have been putting off trying Wild Rice in a while, though I’ve been wanting to. My enthusiasm was rekindled when I read about Bee & Jai’s Thai Black Rice pudding and Indira’s Wild rice with eggplant-chole. Both the recipes were simply mouth watering! Don't you agree? Till Bee pointed out I wasnt aware that black rice was different from black wild rice . Thanks for letting me know Bee.

However, lazy me never got around to try until now. Having eaten wild rice as a salad, I wanted to experiment that out first and then move on to including it in the successive courses. Though I didnt quite expect, the outcome was fulfilling. The flavor of the rice was in harmony with its nuttiness as well as the sweetness of the cranberries....not to forget those blanched pine nuts.

Ingredients

¼ Uncooked Wild rice ( Read more on Wild Rice here. )
2 ½ cups water
¼ cup dried Cranberries
¼ cup Pine nuts, blanched ( I avoided toasted as I didn’t want the crunch to interfere with the chewy nature of the wild rice. )
1 cup freshly squeezed orange juice. ( I used Navel oranges for this recipe. )
1 teaspoon Olive oil
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Salt to taste



Method

1. Soak wild rice for 30 mins. Cook as recommended on package ( Or) bring to boil ¼ cup wild rice in 2 ½ cups water on HIGH. Cover and simmer for 45 mins or till most of the grains split open. If you are not sure, take a teaspoon of rice and check if the grains are tender to bite.

2. Once done, remove from heat. Drain and add ½ teaspoon of olive oil into the rice. Mix well and set aside.

3. Heat ½ teaspoon of Olive oil in a skillet. Add fresh orange juice and freshly ground black pepper. Allow to simmer for 3- 4 min. Add blanched pine nuts, rice and cook covered for 3-5 min on MEDIUM.

4. Cook uncovered for 3-5 min till most of the liquid is absorbed. Add dried cranberries, toss well.
Serve warm. Its a meal by itself.

This recipe serves 2-3. About ¼ cup of uncooked wild rice is almost equivalent to 2 cups when cooked. I cannot help but agree with what Indira mentioned for every bite requires that you take time to appreciate and relish its flavor.

Bon Appétit!

Ragi Idli

I had forever used every excuse to avoid anything made of Ragi, till my mom made Ragi Idli – a favorite in Mangalore. Mom served it chilled...yes...chilled for breakfast on a bright sunny morning! The Idlis were soft, smooth and tasted like pudding. It was an instant hit not only with me but also my Dad – who detested Ragi more than I did before he tried these Idlis.

Better known in Konkani as Nannchanne Dhuddali (Nannchanna means Ragi, Dhuddali – name given the Idli prepared this way), it is served in most authentic Konkani restaurants in Mangalore and also sold as individual cakes. The demand for these is such that specialty stores in Mangalore, which sell them, run out of their stock for the day within an hour or so.

Ragi Info:
Ragi or Finger Millet, as it is popularly known, is grown mostly in arid and semi arid regions of the tropics and sub tropics of the world. A staple food crop in many drought prone regions it is an excellent dietary source of methionine - an amino acid that cannot be produced in the body, and so must be provided through diet. It belongs to a group of compounds called lipotropics that aid the liver to process fat in the body. Other names for Ragi: birdsfoot millet, coracana millet, African millet.

Though the first time we had these idlis was in summer, there is no specific season to make these Idlis or reason to avoid them in winter. The only difference is probably, in winter it is served at room temperature, while in summer it is chilled. Though a little time consuming to make, it’s worth a try and many more. With the New Year resolutions and “diet plans” on full swing, it’s certainly a healthier alternative for a weekend breakfast.



This is the texture inside, when the idli is halved.

Ingredients

1 cups Ragi flour
If using whole Ragi seeds, use 2 cups of seeds.

¼ cup grated coconut

½ teaspoon finely powdered cardamom

1 tablespoon clarified butter or ghee
Cooking oil (vegetable or Canola) that is not very strong could be used in place of clarified butter/ghee or unsalted butter.

¼ cup grated jaggery
Alter the content of Jaggery to match your taste buds. I prefer it to be mildly sweet.

Water



Method

Grind together coconut and Ragi flour, with 1 cup water. You could alternatively mix ragi powder in 1 cup water and mix with coconut and grind together. If you prefer to use seeds then grind seeds with coconut using 2 cups water.

Filter the ground mixture using a thin filter cloth, collecting the filtrate or extract into a large bowl. Filter 3-4 times by adding 1 cup of water each time to the residual mixture in the filter cloth.

Prepare small bowls (diameter less than 6 cms) by spraying or coating with oil.

Heat the filtrate on medium flame for 2-3 mins in a non stick wok. Add in jaggery along with cardamom and stir continuously for 10-15min till the mixture thickens and turns gooey. This make take more than 15 min at times. Add 1 tablespoon of butter and stir continuously for 3-4 min. To see if done, take a teaspoon of the mixture, try to make a ball using fingers. The mixture is done when it does not stick to the finger.

Now pour the mixture into each of the previously prepared bowls. Set aside to cool at room temperature for 20 -25 minutes. Serve chilled or at room temperature.

Alternatively you could grease a plate with oil and pour the mixture into it. Finally cut it into squares or using a cookie cutter and serve.

Chow!

Sesame & Jaggery Ladoo

A very Happy New Year to all of you. Hope you all had a lovely holiday season and are now gearing up to start a wonderful 2008.

Til ladoos take me back in time. My Mouma would pack these “Teeleh Oondoh” with other home made goodies when we’d visit every year or get it along with her when she would visit us.

I wanted to choose something sweet and less fatty at the same time, as the first entry on my blog for the year 2008. Not sure about you, but I have a ton of holiday pounds to shed…thanks to my sweet tooth! And I certainly didn’t want something that would add a few more pounds.

Just then I thought my grand mom’s recipe for these ladoos would be perfect, as they are easy to make, light on the tummy and the calorie count. And I could kick start the year on a sweet note as well.



Ingredients
1 ½ cup White sesame seeds, roasted till brown
1 cup Jaggery, cut in pieces (choose the darkest colored Jaggery)
¼ teaspoon cardamom powder
¼ teaspoon finely powdered cashew nut
2 tablespoon water
A pinch of salt

Method
Heat water in a wok on medium flame. Add jaggery and stir till it melts. Mix in roasted sesame seeds and cook on low flame. Stir continuously for 10-12 min till the mixture thickens and binds evenly. Add in cardamom powder , powdered cashew nut and a pinch of salt.



Remove from heat, allow to cool. Rub palms with a teaspoon of oil and shape the mixture into balls using palms. Allow to completely cool till the ladoos harden. Store in an airtight container. The ladoos can be stored at room temperature up to a month.

Lesson Learnt: Roast the sesame seeds on low flame. I initially started out using medium flame and then realized that the sesame seeds began to blacken, so I had to start with a fresh batch all over again! You could still see some extra roasted sesame seeds in the picture.