Hot chili prawns

October 8, 2012February 12, 2014 | Rekha Vengalil

Hot chili prawns

You need –

Prawns – 250 grams, shelled and de-veined
Vegetable oil – 1 tablespoon
Large garlic cloves – 4, finely chopped
Fresh ginger – 2 teaspoon, finely chopped
Red chilies – 2 chopped (de-seeded if you are not easy with heat)
Tomato ketchup – 1 tablespoon
Chili sauce – 2 tablespoon
Dark soy sauce – 1 tablespoons
Brown sugar – 2 teaspoon
Hot water – ¼ cup or as required
Lime juice – 2 teaspoon
2 spring onions, chopped
Coriander leaves – chopped 4 tablespoon

How to –

Heat a pan on a high flame and add the oil.
Add in the chopped garlic, ginger and chilies and stir fry until the chilies have darkened but careful not to let it burn.
Add the prawns and continue frying till they turn pink.
Stir in the tomato ketchup, soy and chili sauce, sugar, pour in the hot water and lime juice.
Stir and cook till the sauce is think.
Garnish with spring onion and chopped coriander and serve hot.

Hot chili prawns

Pumpkin soup

October 8, 2012February 12, 2014 | Rekha Vengalil

Pumpkin soup

You need –

Pumpkin – ½ kilo cut into cubes.
Onion – 1 small, sliced
Butter – 2 tablespoon
Garlic clove – 1
Chicken stock – 2 cups (Use vegetable stock for vegetarians)
Water – 1½ cups
Thick cream – 2 tablespoon
Salt and paper to taste

For the croutons-

Pinch of cinnamon
Caster sugar – 1 teaspoon
Olive oil – 2 teaspoon
Slice of bread – 2, cut into small cubes

How to –

In a sauce pan, melt the butter. Once the butter starts to brown a bit add the sliced onion. Stir till the onion is soft and translucent.
Add the garlic and continue to cook for about 3-4 minutes or til the onions start to turn brown.
Add the pumpkins, stock and the water. Bring it to a boil and simmer for 30 minutes.
Season with salt and pepper. Stir and turn off the heat.
Put the cooked mixture in a blender draining of the liquid. Set the liquid aside and use it if you want dilute the soup a bit as per your preference.
Wait a minute or until the steam is released from the blender. Now carefully blend the hot pumpkin mixture. Add the cream and continue to blend till smooth.

To prepare the croutons –

Pre-heat the over to 180 C
In baking tray mix the bread cubes with cinnamon, sugar and oil.
Bake the croutons for 6-7 minutes or till brown and crispy.

Serving –

Pour the soup into serving bowl, sprinkle with the croutons and serve hot.

Pumpkin soup

Roasted chicken with spices

October 8, 2012February 12, 2014 | Rekha Vengalil

Roasted chicken with spices

You need –

Chicken – 1, small and cleaned

For the marinade

Saffron strands – a pinch
Ground black paper – 1 teaspoon
Ground cumin – 1 teaspoon
Turmeric powder – ¼ teaspoon
Kashmiri chilli powder – 3 tablespoons
Ground cardamom – ¼ teaspoon
Ground cinnamon – ¼ teaspoon
Ginger and garlic paste – 1 tablespoon each
Lime juice – 1 tablespoon
Yogurt – 2 tablespoons
Vegetable oil – 2 tablespoon s
Salt to taste

How to –

Clean and wash the chicken. Dry the chicken inside and out.
Soak the saffron strands in 2 teaspoon warm water.
Mix all the ingredients under marinade (including the soaked saffron). Rub the chicken with the mixture inside and out. Leave in the fridge overnight or atleast 6 hours.
Pre-heat the oven to 170 C .
Place the chicken in the baking tray and roast for 1 ½ hours turning the chicken halfway through so that it cooks evenly on all sides.

Roasted chicken with spices

Baklava

October 6, 2012February 12, 2014 | Rekha Vengalil

Here’s another Mediterranean favorite of mine. There is a Turkish restaurant next to our house and I keep popping in for this one and kunafe. So it was obvious of me to decide to give this a try at home..It’s easy but sure needs some patience and time.

Before I start with the recipe let me tell you a few things that you might want to keep in mind when you make this super delicious dessert. Your filo pastry should be at room temperature to start. Please follow the instructions on the box for defrosting. Its usually taken off the freezer, left in the fridge overnight and at room temperature for atleast 3-4 hours. As the pastry sheets are very delicate be a little careful. But don’t worry if the pastry sheet tear a bit; you would be buttering each sheet and that acts as a glue. When grinding the nuts make sure they are coarser and uniform. Use a sharp knife to cut the filo sheets.

You need –

Filo pastry – at room temperature
Unsalted Butter – 100 grams

For the filling –

Blanched almonds – 1/2 cup
Pistachios – ½ cup
Walnuts – ½ cup
Sugar – ¼ cup
Rose water – 2 teaspoons

For the sugar syrup –

Sugar – 1 cup
Lemon juice – 2 tablespoon
Water – ¾ cup

How to –

Pre-heat the over to 180c. Melt the butter and set aside.
Filling –
Put the nuts, sugar, rose water in a processor and grind till coarser.
Sugar syrup –
Put the sugar and water in pan. Bring to boil and then reduce the flame and simmer for about 5 to 6 minutes. Turn off the heat, add the lemon juice and set aside.

Assembling the baklava –

Spread the filo pastry sheets on a counter, take the pan you are going to bake the baklava in and trim filo sheets to fit the pan accordingly.
Butter the pan. Take a sheet of the pastry and place in the pan. Butter the sheet and continue till you have buttered half the sheets ( my box of the filo pastry had 28 sheets, so I layered 14 sheets).
Fill the middle layer of the pastry with the filling leaving a little ridge around the edge and continue to layer the sheets, bushing each sheet with butter.
With long sharp knife carefully cut the baklava to your desired shape, square or diamond.
Bake them for about 40-50 minutes or till they are golden brown.
Pour the syrup over the warm baklava; let it soak, uncovered, at least 6 hours or overnight.

Trim filo sheets to fit the pan

Butter the sheet

Fill the middle layer of the pastry
with the filling

Continue to layer the sheets,

bushing each sheet with butter

With long sharp knife carefully

cut the baklava to your desired shape

Pour the syrup over the warm baklava

Potato, bacon and feta tart

October 4, 2012February 12, 2014 | Rekha Vengalil

Potato, bacon and feta tart

You need –

Store-bought puff pastry – 1 sheet
Thinly sliced Bacons – 100 grams
Feta cheese – 125 grams
Pre-cooked baby potatoes – 5 to 6 sliced
Store-bought caramelised onion – ¼ cup
Wild rocket leaves – 100 grams

How to –

Preheat oven to 200°C.
Cut the pastry sheet in half and place on a baking tray lined with non-stick baking paper.
Spread the caramelized onion on each pastry sheets leave a 1 cms border around each pastry.
Top with the bacon slices, baby potatoes and feta.
Brush the pastry edges with egg and bake for 12–15 minutes or til puffed and golden.
Serve the tarts topped with wild rocket leaves. This serves 2

Bean salad with onion and bell pepper

October 2, 2012February 12, 2014 | Rekha Vengalil

Bean salad with onion and bell pepper

You need –

Baked bean – 1 can or 400 grams
Red onion – 1/2 cup finely sliced
Red bell pepper – 1 finely sliced
Garlic – 1 clove, finely chopped
Parsley – 2 tablespoon, finely chopped plus extra for garnishing
Extra virgin olive oil – 3 tablespoon
Juice of ½ lemon
Salt and pepper – as per taste
Salad greens – as required
Ground pistachio – 1 tablespoon (optional)

How to –

Place the beans in a large bowl. Add the bell pepper, onions, garlic, parsley and toss well.
Beat the oil and lemon juice in a small bowl with a fork. Season with salt and pepper.
Drizzle the dressing over the salad. Toss well.
Cover and let it rest for atleast 30 minutes. Sprinkle the ground pistachio and serve with salad greens.

Bean salad with onion and bell pepper

Shahi Paneer

October 2, 2012February 12, 2014 | Rekha Vengalil

Shahi Paneer

You need –

Paneer – 250 grams
Onion – 1 Large
Tomatoes – 1 large
Almonds – 8-10 blanched,peeled and make a fine paste
Fresh Cream – 1 tablespoon
Shahi paneer masala powder – 2 teaspoon
Oil – 1 tablespoon or as required
Garam Masala – ¼ teaspoon
Salt – As per taste

How to –

Make a fine paste of onion and tomatoes (separately).
Heat oil in pan and cook the onion paste till they turn light pink.
Add the tomato puree, shahi paneer masala and cook for 5 minutes
Add the almond paste, paneer cubes, Salt and ½ cup water. Simmer for 5 minutes or till the gravy thick.
Add the cream, garam masala and mix well. Turn off the heat.
Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with Roti.

Please note- You can use cashew-nuts indeed of almonds.

Shahi Paneer

Bruschetta with tomatoes and basil

September 30, 2012February 12, 2014 | Rekha Vengalil

Bruschetta with tomatoes and basil

You need –

Tomatoes – 3, large
Bread – 4 slice firm textured bread
Garlic cloves – 2
Basil leaves – 2 sprigs plus additional for garnishing
Extra virgin olive oil – ¼ cups
Salt and pepper – as per taste

How to –

Cut the tomatoes into half, sprinkle with salt and set them upside down for 15-20 minutes to drain.
Toast the bread until golden brown or until dry n crispy
Rub the slices with garlic. Season with salt, pepper and drizzle with half the oil.
De-seed and chop the tomatoes in small cubes. Mix the tomatoes & chopped basil leaves.
Arrange them on the toast and Drizzle the remaining oil and serve.

Spanish orange and almond cake

September 26, 2012February 12, 2014 | Rekha Vengalil

Spanish orange and almond cake

You need –

Orange – 1
Butter – 75 grams
Caster sugar – ½ cup
Eggs – 2
Ground almonds – 1 cup
Self-rising flour – ¼ cup, sifted
Baking powder – 1 teaspoons
Icing sugar – as required for dusting.

How to –

Pre-heat the oven to 180 C. Line the base of cake tin with non-stick baking paper
Peel the oranges and place them in a saucepan of water. Cover and simmer until soft.
Remove from the water, take of the seeds and chop roughly .
Process the orange, butter, sugar, eggs, ground almonds, flour and baking powder in a food processor until smooth.
Transfer the mixture into the tin and bake for 35-45 minutes or till skewer comes clean when inserted.
Allow to cool and then dust the icing sugar and serve.

Please note -Traditionally the orange skin is used but I have not. If you would like to please do. You will need to boil the oranges with the skin.