Huevos Rancheros

Huevos Rancheros is a classical Mexican breakfast dish.

Ingredients
Eggs: 4
Olive oil: 2 tsp
Corn tortillas: 4 (each of 6 inch)
Refried beans with green chilies: 1 cup
Butter: 1 tsp
Shredded Cheddar cheese: 1 cup
Chicken: 1 cup (cooked and crumbled)
Salsa: 1/2 cup

Method
Heat oil in a pan over medium-high flame. Fry tortillas one at a time until firm, but not crisp. Remove on paper towels and drain extra oil. Meanwhile, combine the refried beans and butter in a microwave-safe dish. Cover and cook in the microwave until heated through. When tortillas are done, fry eggs in the same pan. Spread tortillas onto a plate and spread a layer of beans on them. Top with cheese, a fried egg, crumbled chicken and salsa.

Turkish Menemen

Menemen is fast and easy to prepare and very nutritious. It’s a favourite for breakfasts in Turkey. But it can be a tasty lunch or a quick supper. 

Ingredients
Eggs: 4
Chopped tomatoes: 1 cup
Chopped capsicum: 1/2 cup
Chopped onion: 1/2 cup
Chopped green chili: 1 tsp
Diced olives: 2-3 tsp
Olive oil: 2 tsp
Salt: To taste

Method
Heat olive oil in a pan and add green chili, onion, capsicum and tomatoes and saute for 2-3 minutes on a low flame. Add eggs and scramble them well and add salt to taste. Cook the eggs till they are fairly firm. Serve warm.

Roasted Broccoli

Ingredients
Broccoli florets: 2 cups
Pepper powder: ½ tsp
Toasted sesame seeds: 2-3 tsp
Olive oil: 2-3 tsp
Salt: To taste

Method
Heat olive oil in a pan and fry broccoli till crisp. Add pepper powder and salt and toss well. Garnish with toasted sesame seeds.
If you want to bake it, preheat the oven to 400⁰ F. In a bowl, toss one tablespoon of olive oil, salt, pepper and broccoli and place on a large baking sheet. Roast till the broccoli is tender and blackened on the bottom. It will take about 10 minutes. Garnish with toasted sesame seeds and serve warm.

Shakshouka

Shakshouka in Hebrew means “all mixed up.” It is a staple of Tunisian, Egyptian, Libyan, Algerian and Moroccan cuisines and is very popular in Isreal and the dish has been said to challenge hummus and falafel as a national favourite, especially in the winter.

Ingredients
Eggs: 4
Finely chopped onion: 1 cup
Finely chopped capsicum: 1 cup
Peeled and crushed tomatoes: 4
Olive oil: 2-3 tsp
Salt: To taste
Pepper powder: To taste

Method
Heat olive oil in a large frying pan and add onion and capsicum. Saute them till lightly brown.Peel and grate tomatoes on largest holes of a grater. Add the grated tomatoes to the frying pan and close the lid. Cook over low flame for 15-20 minutes.Remove the lid and add the the eggs. Stir gently to break yolks. Cover the lid again and cook on a medium flame for about 5 minutes or till the eggs are firm. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and serve warm.

Note: If you want, you can use minced garlic. If you love it to be spicy, you can add crushed chili powder and for taste variation, you can add oregano.

Crispy Noodles

Ingredients

Rice noodles: 100 gms

Paneer: 1 cup, cut into strips
Oil: For deep frying

For Sauce
Chopped garlic: 1 tsp

Chopped onion: ½ cup

Soy sauce: 2 tsp
Sugar: 2 tsp
Lemon juice: 2 tsp
Vegetable stock: 1 cup

Chilli powder: 1 tsp

Olive oil: 2-3 tsp

Salt: To taste

For Garnishing
Diced cabbage: 1 cup
Bean sprouts: ¼ cup
Chopped spring onion: 1 cup

Boiled cauliflower florets: ½ cup

Slit red chilli: 2

Method
Heat oil and deep fry the noodles till crisp, drain and keep aside. Deep fry paneer till crisp, drain and keep aside.

To prepare sauce, heat olive oil in a pan, add garlic and onion and sauté till onion turns translucent. Add soy sauce, sugar, lemon juice, stock and salt and stir till the mixture starts to thicken. Add the fried paneer, chilli powder and mix well. Add the fried noodles, just before serving. 

Serve garnished with the cabbage, bean sprouts, spring onion and cauliflower and top with the slit red chilli.

Baby Corn Manchurian

Ingredients

Baby corn: 2 cups

Corn flour: 1 cup

Rice flour: ½ cup

Red chilli powder: 1 tsp

Ginger-garlic paste: 1 tsp

Salt: To taste

Oil: For deep fry

For Seasoning

Chopped spring onion: 1 cup

Sliced onion: 1 cup

Crushed garlic: 1 tsp

Soy sauce: 1 tsp

Hot sauce: 1 tsp

Tomato ketchup: 1 tsp

Ajinomoto: A pinch

Vinegar: 1 tsp

Olive oil: 2-3 tsp

Salt: To taste

Method

Cut baby corn length wise and cook for 5-6 minutes in boiling water adding little salt. Drain the corn and keep aside.

Add enough water and mix corn flour, rice flour, chilli powder, ginger-garlic paste and salt and prepare a batter which is neither thin nor thick. Dip cooked baby corn in the batter and deep fry till golden brown and drain on tissue towel.

Meanwhile, heat oil in a large pan and add garlic, onion, spring onion and sauté till onion turns translucent. Add fried baby corn, and then add soy sauce, hot sauce, vinegar, salt, tomato ketchup and oregano one by one. Stir well and serve hot with tomato ketchup.

Veg Momos

When my hubby told me that he wants something light for tonight’s dinner, I thought of preparing some Dim Sums. They are light and easy to prepare. I first tasted veg dim sums in 2003 in Bangalore. Trust me, I had not liked them, but had loved the chilli-garlic dip that was given with it. Those dumplings were not steamed properly and the dough was too thick. Later, I had them at a different Chinese restaurant and I absolutely loved them so much so that I started preparing them at home once in a while. The reasons are, they are light, can have lots of vegetables, less oily, steamed plus they are yummy. Dim Sum, a Cantonese delicacy which means “a little bit of heart”, originated in China hundreds of years ago. Oh, let me tell you one more thing, there is no difference between dim sums and momos except for the name! I usually prepare dim sums in three ways – deep fried, pan fried and steamed – depending on my mood and time available. I use different fillings at different times. Usually, I prepare vegetarian dim sums and depending on the availability, I use broccoli, radish, cabbage, cauliflower and sometimes even pineapple. Here is the recipe for veg dim sum I prepared for tonight’s dinner.

Steamed dim sums

Veg Dim Sum 

Ingredients
For Dough

Maida: 1 cup

Salt: ¼ tsp

For Filling

Finely minced any mixed vegetables: ½ cup

Finely chopped onion: ¼ cup

Finely chopped garlic: 1 tsp

Vinegar: ¼ tsp

Pepper powder: ¼ tsp

Olive oil: 1 tsp

Salt: To taste

Method

Add enough water and salt to maida and prepare stiff dough and keep aside.

Heat oil in a pan, add onion and garlic and sauté well. Add vegetables and fry for 2-3 minutes. Remove from the flame and add salt, vinegar and pepper powder.

Roll the dough very thin and cut four inch circles with the help of a bowl. 

Take a round, wet edges and place some vegetable filling in the centre, bring edges together to cover the filling and press to seal it and twist it lightly giving the shape of a dim sum. 

Steam for about 10 minutes and serve hot with hot sauce.

Deep fried dim sums

Deep fried dim sums in a different shape ;)

Hakka Noodles

Ingredients
Boiled hakka noodles: 2 cups

Dried red chillies: 2-3

Chopped spring onion: 1 bunch

Chopped capsicum: 1 cup

Finely chopped garlic: 2-3 tsp

Vinegar: 1 tsp

Salt: To taste

Olive oil: 2 tsp

Method
Crush red chillies and garlic coarsely. Heat oil in a pan and add crushed chilli and garlic and sauté well. Add capsicum and fry till tender. Add spring onion and fry for 2-3 minutes. Add noodles, salt and vinegar and mix well. Heat for a minute and serve with schezwan sauce or manchurian gravy.

Spicy Pasta

Ingredients
Boiled pasta: 2 cups (I use Penne Rigate for this recipe)

Chopped garlic: 3-4 tsp
Chopped red chillies: 1 tsp

Broccoli: ½ cup
Grated Parmesan cheese: 2 tsp

Pepper powder: ½ tsp

Salt: To taste

Olive oil: 2-3 tsp

Method
Heat olive oil in a pan and sauté garlic. Add red chillies and season with pepper and salt. Add broccoli and sauté for two minutes. Add boiled pasta followed by Parmesan cheese. Cook for 2-3 minutes and serve hot.

Quick Pasta

Ingredients
Boiled pasta: 2 cups (I use Penne Rigate for this recipe)

Finely chopped tomato: ½ cup

Finely chopped onion: ½ cup

Finely chopped capsicum: ½ cup

Chopped ginger: 1 tsp

Chopped garlic: 1 tsp

Chopped green chillies: 2-3

Salt: To taste
Olive oil: 2-3 tsp

Tomato sauce: 2 tsp

Method

Grind chillies, ginger, garlic and tomato sauce together. Heat oil in a pan and add onion. Saute well, add capsicum and then chopped tomatoes.  Add the paste and stir well. Add salt and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add water if you need gravy. Add pasta and toss gently so that the pasta is covered well with the masala. Serve hot.

Tomato Pasta

Ingredients

Boiled pasta: 2 cups (I use Penne Rigate for this recipe)

Diced tomatoes: 4-5 tomatoes

Garlic cloves: 3-4

Chopped onion: 1 cup

Water: ½ cup

Bay leaf: 1

Sugar: ½ tsp

Basil leaves: 4-5

Salt: To taste

Olive oil: 2-3 tsp

Method:
Boil tomatoes, 2 cloves of chopped garlic, ¾ cup of onion, bay leaf, salt and sugar with ½ cup of water. When tomatoes become soft, remove from the flame, cool and then grind to a puree and set aside.

Take a pan, heat oil and add the remaining onion and garlic. Saute them well and add the tomato puree. Cook till it reduces to half the amount. Add basil leaves and stir well. Add the cooked pasta and toss gently before serving hot.

Pesto Sauce

Pesto is commonly used in Italian pastas and trust me, no other substitute can match its taste. Basil leaves is one of the main ingredients. Pesto sauce is supposed to have originated in Genoa, northern Italy. Traditionally, it consisted crushed garlic, basil leaves and pine nuts blended with olive oil and Parmigiano Reggiano and Fiore Sardo.

Ingredients
Basil leaves: 1 cup
Pine nuts: 3-4 tsp
Garlic: 2-3 pods
Grated Parmesan cheese: 5-6 tsp
Grated Sardinian pecorino cheese: 2 tsp
Rock salt: ¼ tsp
Extra virgin olive oil: 5-6 tsp

Method
Wash the basil leaves gently in plenty of cold water. Make sure that the leaves don’t break or get crushed while washing. Allow the leaves to dry on a towel. 

A friend told me that a marble mortar and a wooden pestle is used to prepare authentic pesto. And many of us use the same back home to crush ginger-garlic, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom and other spices in small quantities. And there comes the advantage of having a marble mortar in the kitchen.

Crush garlic and pine nuts in the mortar till they are creamy. Add salt and dry basil leaves, a few at a time, and rotate the wooden pestle delicately against the sides of the mortar. Make sure you never beat the leaves. The delicate rotation of the pestle helps in extracting the essential oils from the basil leaves which are not broken, but are rubbed against the walls of the mortar. Rub the leaves till the sauce is mixed well and basil becomes a fine paste. Slowly add Parmesan and Sardinian pecorino cheese and mix with the pestle. Lastly, add extra virgin oil and mix well till all the ingredients blend well. Use the sauce for any cooked pasta. 

Note: Though grinder can make the sauce in a few seconds, taste definitely changes. 

If you are not using the sauce immediately, store in the refrigerator in a glass container by covering it with a layer of olive oil.

Tomato, Onion and Cucumber Salad

Ingredients
Cucumbers: 2

Tomatoes: 4
Onion: 1
Vinegar: 3 tsp
Olive oil: 1 tsp
Honey: 1 tsp
Salt: To taste
Pepper powder: 1 tsp
Coarsely chopped fresh herbs: 2 tsp (I use flat-leaf parsley, lettuce and chives)

 

Method
Whisk vinegar, oil, honey, salt and pepper in a bowl. Peel cucumbers and slice them into thin rounds, cut tomatoes into ½ inch wedges and slice onion very thin. Add the cucumber slices, tomatoes and onion to the dressing and gently toss to combine. Allow it to stand at room temperature for at least 30 minutes and add herbs and toss gently before serving.

Note: Mint or coriander can also be used instead of spring onion or chives, lettuce and flat-leaf parsley.

Cavatappi Pasta

Ingredients
Pasta (Cavatappi): 2 cups
Tomato: 2 medium sized
Capsicum: 1 small size
Onion: 1 small size
Garlic: 2 cloves
Pepper powder: ½ tsp
Oregano: ¼ tsp
Basil: ¼ tsp
Salt: As per taste
Olive oil: 5-6 tsp
Fresh cream: 3-4 tsp
Cheese: 3-4 tsp

Method
Fill a large pot with lightly salted water and bring to a boil. Once the water starts boiling, add the Cavatappi pasta. Cook the pasta uncovered, stirring occasionally, until it is cooked through, but is still firm to the bite. Drain well in a colander and add a few drops of olive oil, toss it well and keep aside. Remove seeds from tomato and chop them finely. Chop capsicum, onion and garlic also finely. Heat olive oil in a pan and add onion and garlic and saute till they turn golden brown. Add chopped tomato and fry well for 4-5 minutes. Mash the tomato well so that it leaves all its juice in the pan. Add pepper, basil, oregano and salt and saute for a minute. Add capsicum and fresh cream and mix well. Add the cooked pasta followed by cheese before tossing everything gently. Transfer to serving bowl and add olive oil on top.

Note: Normally, Parmesan cheese is used in Italian pasta, but Mozzarella cheese will also do.

Hummus and Tahini

Whenever we visit a restaurant in the Middle East, we come across Hummus, one of the most popular Middle Eastern dips. It is served with fresh or toasted pita bread. It makes for a great snack or appetizer. I wondered what it means. Hummus is a dip/spread made from chickpeas. Hummus in Arabic means chickpea. Little search about hummus yielded that it is one of the oldest foods dating back to ancient Egypt. And one more thing, the taste of hummus differ from restaurants to restaurants, it is not constant. Some have lemon flavour, some have garlic flavor and some have a spicy tone. So I came to know that while preparing hummus at home, we can keep our taste buds in mind and add a little of this and remove a little of that and still have a great culinary masterpiece. So here goes the recipe for it.

 

Ingredients
Chickpeas: 1 cup
Lemon juice: 2-3 tsp
Tahini: 1 tsp
Garlic: 2 cloves crushed
Olive oil: 1-2 tsp
Salt: according to taste

Method
Soak chickpeas overnight, drain and cook in a vessel. Set aside the cooked water from the chickpeas. Add ¼ cup of chickpea water and grind all the ingredients to a smooth paste. Put in a serving bowl and create a shallow well in the centre of the hummus. Add 1 tsp of olive oil in the well and garnish with coriander. Serve immediately with fresh, warm or toasted pita bread, or cover and refrigerate.

Note: If you want spicier hummus, add red chilies; if you love yogurt add ½ cup of it to get a creamy dip.
Hummus can be stored in refrigerator for up to 3 days and in the freezer for up to 1 month. You can add little olive oil if it appears to be too dry.

Now, let me tell you how to prepare Tahini, which is the most important ingredient in hummus.

Tahini

 

Ingredients
Sesame seeds: 1 cup
Olive oil: ¼ cup

Method
Dry roast sesame seeds till you get nice aroma. Do not allow to brown. Cool it and grind it to powder. Add olive oil and grind it to a fine paste.

Note: Tahini can be stored in refrigerator in an air tight container for up to 3 months.