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This is a very easy recipe. I bought some chicken and wanted to make something with whatever I had at home instead of following a recipe because more often than not, there is always one ingredient that I need to hop to the grocer’s for and that’s such a waste of time. I came up with this by simply adding whatever I could find on the spice shelf and in the refrigerator. The spicy mint chutney is what gives the kebabs a nice kick. Give it a try, this one’s a winner.
Lime and Mint Kebab Recipe (Serves 4)
Stuff on the skewer: 3 chicken breast fillets, cubed 250 grams paneer (cottage cheese), cubed 2 medium sized onions, quartered and separated Zucchini, bell peppers or tomatoes will add a nice touch of colour too.
Marinade: 3 heaped tbsp yoghurt 1 tbsp fresh cream ½ tsp coriander powder ½ tsp cumin powder 1 tsp red chilli powder 1 tsp garlic, minced 1 tsp ginger, grated Juice and zest of 1 lime Handful of parsley/coriander leaves, chopped Handful of mint, chopped Salt
Marinate the chicken for at least 1 hour, although overnight would be better.
Add the paneer cubes to the marinade an hour before grilling.
Skewer the onions, paneer and chicken and grill till it’s done (5-7 minutes). Turn regularly.
Mint chutney
1 bunch mint 2 green chillies Salt Juice of 1 lime
Wash the mint leaves thoroughly. While still wet, whizz up all the ingredients of the chutney in the mixer. If you’d like it less spicy, you might want to add just one chilli. This is brilliant as a dip, for basting or simply spooned over the kebabs.
The then NY Times food critic, Ruth Reichl (Garlic and Sapphires) was on one of her visits to the New York restaurant, Lespinasse. One of the dishes she sampled was a Braised salmon and crisped Artichoke with a syrah wine reduction. It looked familiar – a fat slice of salmon on a bed of crispy fried strips of artichoke in a deep purple sauce, garnished with bread crumbs and chervil. However, there was an unusual element in it that escaped her. So she asked the waiter, and what she learnt was a new ingredient – Kokum.
Only after reading this, did I realise the exotic value of this local ingredient. The kokum lying at the back of my pantry earned a new found respect from me. Don’t get me wrong, I have always loved kokum in my food, but simply took it for granted until now.
Photograph sourced from Wikipedia.
So what is kokum? Kokum is native to the Southern regions of India and it didn’t quite go places, that’s why there is no English name for the fruit! The dried kokum that is used to flavour foods is usually purplish black in colour; the darker the colour, the better the kokum. After the fruit is picked, the rind is removed and then soaked in the juice of the pulp and sun-dried. Sometimes a good quantity of salt is used to speed up the drying process.
Kokum is sometimes confused with mangosteen fruit. They are similar only till the point of belonging to the same family – The genus Garcinia which itself has under its wing over 435 species! The binomial name for Kokum is Garcinia Indica and that of Mangosteen is Garcinia mangostana.
And how is it used? This tart fruit is used to add a sour twist, quite like the tamarind; to dishes hot and cold – be it coconut based curries, dals, chutneys, vegetables or pickles. My favourites being Goan Fish Curry from my Grandma’s kitchen, Sindhi curry and a refreshing drink made from kokum. Thinking of the drink, I fondly remember the summers I used to make Kokum Sherbet for my family, I was probably 10 or 12 then. Everyone enjoyed the refreshing drink. It may be February now, but you don’t have to wait for the summer to down this drink, because this fruit can reduce fat, purify blood, aid in digestion and also reduce cholesterol!
Kokum Sherbet
100g Kokum
A pinch, Asafoetida Salt, to taste
6 tablespoon jaggery or brown sugar 4 slit green chillies 3 tablespoon parsley, chopped 3 cups of water
In a pitcher add water and all the ingredients except the parsley. Let it rest for about 6-8 hours in the refrigerator. And if you want it speed it up, you could soak it warm water.
Large quantities of this sherbet are consumed in the coastal regions of southwest India to beat the sweltering heat. You can also buy yourself a bottle of the syrup that requires just the addition of water. You could even drop in a tea bag and make a different kind of iced tea!
I have been longing to try out the thali served at Golden Star Thali; and I got the opportunity do so last weekend. A thali service is where the foods is served in a thali- a big plate with several bowls. There will be so many things on your plate that you will be spoilt for choices. The food served at Golden Star thali is a mix of authentic Gujarati and Rajasthani.
Once you’re there, you just have to sit back while the traditionally attired waiters fill in your thali with the different delicacies. In about 2 minutes your plate will look this beautiful. The variety here is unbelievable. It has a wonderful combination of chutneys, salads, snacks, breads, curries, lentils, rice based dishes, vegetables and sweets. I was pleasantly surprised whenI saw that they served 4 sweet dishes (this was because it was a Sunday). They also include a bottle of mineral water, which was quite impressive, since most restaurant don’t.
When you decide to visit Golden Star Thali, make sure you don’t eat for at least 5 hours prior to the meal because the quantity of food is overwhelming. And to top that, you will experience the great Indian hospitality here (for those not in the know, it means feed your guests till they can’t eat another bite). You might eat so much food that you’ll feel sick and you’ll say to yourself that there is no way you’re going back there. But I assure you, you definitely will.
Everything in the thali was par excellent, but if I had to go back for something, it would definitely be the dal bati churma and the jilebis – the sweets that are bright orange, crispy and dripping with sugar syrup (they were so good, I downed 8! ). The jilebis made me reminiscent of my childhood days; when I went with my grandpa to buy hot jilebis from the local vendor, and then my sister and I would compete for the title of “who can eat the most jilebis”. Of course, she always won because of her “healthy” (read monstrous) appetite back then.
(not the sharpest photos because they’re from my camera phone, but delicious nonetheless!)
My thali was covered with the following foods:
Tamarind chutney
Green chilli chutney
Raw mango pickle
Lime wedge
Garlic chutney
Tomato cucumber salad
Farsan (snacks) – dhokla, green pea pakora
Shera
Bengali sweet – malai sandwich
Jilebis
Fresh strawberry milk
Sweet Gujarati dal (lentils)
Dahi curry (yoghurt based)
Dal bati churma
Aloo sabzi (potato)
Gatte ki sabzi (think gnocchi like dumplings made with gram flour in a gravy)
Palak paneer (spinach with cottage cheese)
Undhyo -Gujarati speciality
Roasted poppadom and fried khichia/khichi
Wheat roti
Jowar roti (millet)
In fact this picture is not even complete. Once you’re done with the breads, they serve the khichdi and the rice. I was too full with the dal bati to have these. Also, what’s missing is the picture is the puri (bread) and the chhas or the buttermilk that is had along with the meal.
The food is the best. Service is great. Ambience is not exceptional, but the foods and service more than cover up for it. No thali place in the city matches up to this. I’m already planning my next trip!
And oh, did I mention? Everything in a thali is unlimited! An all-you-can-eat glutton’s party, for just around US $4 to US $6. Absolutely amazing!
Golden Star Thali
330, Raja Rammohan Roy Road
Opposite Charni Road Station
Mumbai
‘Nobody doesn’t like ice-cream’. At least that’s whats evident each time I see hordes of people envelope the ice-cream carts in and around the city.
What intrigues me is how easy it is to make and market, yet how luxuriously creamy it can be, imbibing its cool, sweet taste into the heart of the eater. Nobody doesn’t like ice-cream. People of all ages in all parts of the world love ice-cream in some form or another.Some of the common offspring of ice-cream are Gelato, Frozen yogurt, Frozen Custard, Sorbet, Fried Ice-cream, Softies, Ice-pop, Stone Ice-cream.
And that’s what I’m going to talk about. Different versions of ice-cream, with emphasis on what is my personal favourite – the ever forgotten, Kulfi.
Kulfi is similar to ice-cream in a lot of ways. It is an Indian dessert made of therichest of milk. The difference between Kulfi and regular ice-cream is – Kulfi contains no air. Kulfi is served as a dense block of frozen goodness, chopped up in a plate or on a stick. It comes in a variety of indigenous flavours – Pistachio, Cardamom, Mango, Coconut, Saffron and Malai (cream). It is often served with falooda, a form of yellow, sweet rice noodles with black basil seeds, topped with colourful syrups, rabri (thickened, sweetened milk), rose water and chopped pistachios in a tall glass. And, it tastes magnificent!
Let’s step back to ice-cream for now. We all know the various styles of presenting ice-cream – sundaes, banana split, smoothies, or in a regular cup or cone. But what is Gelato? According to Wikipedia, “Gelato, or the plural Gelati, is Italian ice-cream made from milk and sugar, combined with other flavourings. The gelato ingredients are frozen while stirring to break up ice crystals as they form. Like high end ice-creams, gelato generally has less than 35% air, resulting in a dense and extremely flavourful product.”
But what about the kulfi, which has no air at all. How ‘dense and extremely flavourful’ would that be! Gelato and Kulfi are different things, but they’re still equally good. But then why does nobody know about Kulfi, while gelato parlours are springing up at every corner of the globe. It is as easy to find gelato here in Mumbai as it is Kulfi.
Now that’s a shame. After discovering such a fantastic recipe for a rich, colourful, cool dessert, India has failed to market it properly. Kulfi is an easy-to-make dish, made with all-natural ingredients (maybe coco can come up with a recipe for kulfi sometime, as she’s the master in the kitchen!). It’s completely vegetarian, a bonus to many Indians worldwide. It’s a perfect way to beat the summer heat, and sweet enough to mesmerise your taste buds with its amalgamation of a mixture of flavours and textures. Drop a hot gulab jamun in the kulfi and pour a dollop of rabdi and falooda over it, drown it in syrups and garnish it with dry fruits – that’s the magic of kulfi!
It’s not that difficult to market, actually. Hardened ice-cream, with a really milky base. Eat it off a plate, scoop it from within a glass, or bite into it on a stick. Someone should really introduce it to the world like it should be, not like the rare Westernised one you’d probably find at an Indian restaurant, containing eggs and air. No, the true kulfi will be appreciated.
Just give it an avenue. It’s high-time the kulfi got its due. It will be a success. And then hordes will clamour after it. After all, nobody doesn’t like ice-cream!
10 days into the month and finally a post! I know I’m very late, but wish you all a wonderful New Year ahead!
A few days ago, I made mutton biryani. I followed the recipe that I’d learnt from a chef at the Dumphukth Restaurant at the ITC Grand Maratha Sheraton. I made certain additions to it, like adding more spices (always a good thing). Also, the biryani can be made of mutton, beef or chicken. Pick your favourite. It takes a while to prepare it all at one go, so what I usually do is keep the birasta ready, or better still marinate it the night before (this is what I do when I have to rush to office the next day).
Here is my version of the recipe:
Mutton Biryani
Ingredients: 1 kg Boneless mutton 5 medium potatoes cut into 4 and deep fried till partially cooked. 3 tomatoes, diced
Marinade: 1½ cups yoghurt 1 cup birasta (browned onions – read ahead for the method of browning) ¼ cup oil 2 tsps Garam Masala powder ½ tsp freshly ground nutmeg 3 black cardamoms 3 star anise 1 tbsp red chilli powder 1 tbsp coriander powder 2-4 bay leaves 1 cup coriander/parlsey leaves (chopped) 1 cup mint leaves (chopped) 10 slit green chillies (or to taste) 3 tbsp ginger-garlic paste Salt to taste
For the Rice: 1 kg Basmati rice 1/4th tsp saffron, dry roasted for a few seconds and then dissolved in a little milk Few drops of rose water Few drops of kewra water (screwpine essence) – they add to the fragrance of the Basmati rice, but it’s okay if you don’t have it. Salt to taste ½ cup ghee (clarified butter) A few table spoons of the mint and parsley mixture as well as some browned onions.
Browning onions: Using a mandolin slice about 6 medium onions (these will reduce after frying). Salt it and let it stand for a few minutes. Squeeze out the excess water. Deep fry until the colour is that of almonds. Be very careful, you might be tempted to fry it for a few seconds more, but don’t! They will continue to cook and become dark, even after they’re out of the fryer. This is called a birasta. This tastes wonderful when made properly. A little extra time, and you’ve got yourself burnt onions and a little less time will give you a lumpy mass instead of separate strands. I tend to much on them while I’mcooking so I always make a little extra.
Cooking the biryani:
Prepare a marinade with all the ingredients and marinate the mutton for at least 1 hour.
Wash and soak rice for 30 minutes.
Boil water and add rice to it. Add salt, rose water and screwpine essence.
Place marinated mutton in a thick bottomed pan, add the tomatoes and potatoes and cook for about 15-20 minutes (if you’re using chicken, you don’t need to cook it at this stage).
Cook rice till it is 70% done. Strain and while it’s still steaming, spoon layers of rice over the mutton and sprinkle with mint, coriander and browned onions and saffron milk between the layers.
Pour the melted ghee over it evenly.
Cover this with a lid and place some heavy weight on it so that no steam can escape.
Let it cook for about an hour.
Garnish with fresh coriander, mint, fried cashews and birasta.
Raita
2 cups yoghurt 1 tsp red chilli powder 1 tsp cumin powder 2 medium tomatoes, deseeded and chopped 1 medium onion, chopped A handful of chopped coriander
Mix all the above ingredients together and keep it refrigerated. Serve steaming hot biryani with the cold raita.
22nd Feb, ’08 edit: I added black cardamom and star anise this time to the recipe, and it made it so much more fragrant!
It may be February now, but you don’t have to wait for the summer to down this drink, because this fruit can reduce fat, purify blood, aid in digestion and also reduce cholesterol!
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