Lamb kheema

Last weekend Salil decided to make kheema pav. While I watched over the little one, he cooked the kheema, which turned out to be the most amazing kheema I have tasted. I had to get him to remember the recipe so I could make a note of it. This was quite easy as he adapted Sanjeev Kapoor's kheema recipe. :) The link to the original is here. Thank you Sanjeev Kapoor! 

Usually peas are added too but Salil doesn't like peas so he has left them out (rolling eyes). He also added fresh chillies later after taking out the little one's portion but in the method below I have added them at the start. 

Ingredients

500 gms organic lamb mince 

2 tbsp ghee or butter

1 tsp cumin

1 black cardamom

5-6 cloves

5-6 peppercorns

1 inch stick of cinnamon

2 Bay leaves

1/4 tsp turmeric powder

1 tsp coriander powder

1 tbsp garam masala

1 small piece of mace

2 tsp ginger garlic paste

2 onions, finely chopped

2 tomatoes, chopped

2 green chillies (finely chopped)

1 cup water

Coriander to garnish

Method

Heat the ghee in a pan. Add the cumin, black cardamom, cloves, peppercorns, cinnamon stick, mace and bay leaves and fry for 30 seconds.

Add the onions and fry for a few minutes on a medium flame, until golden brown. Add the green chillies and ginger garlic paste and fry for 30 seconds. 

Add tomatoes and fry for a few minutes, until the ghee/butter starts to separate. Add lamb mince and fry until browned (3-4 minutes).

Add turmeric powder and coriander powder. Add the water, cover and simmer on a low flame for 20-25 minutes until the mince is cooked through. 

Add the garam masala powder, mix well and cover again. Cook for a few more minutes. Garnish with coriander leaves. 

Eat! :) 

Aloo matar (Potato and green peas curry)

I was looking in the fridge today, thinking of what to make, and I saw potatoes which I had boiled yesterday. My first thought was to make a quick potato stir-fry (aloo sabzi / batata bhaaji), but I decided not to, as I make it quite often, and instead thought of making a potato and green peas curry (aloo matar), which I hadn't made in a long time (now wondering if I had even made it before). 

I haven't used any chilli in this recipe because I also wanted my little one to be able to eat it. We usually love eating spicy food but then that involves making separate meals for the little one and for us, and every time that happens, the little one insists on eating from our plate! Although non spicy, this dish isn't bland as I have used ginger, garlic and a spice mix which has given it lots of flavour. The spice mix (goda masala) I have used is homemade (My mum makes this at home and gives us a big container whenever we meet :)) but this can be substituted with store bought garam masala. One thing to remember is that store bought spices can be stronger or spicier so best to add less first, taste the dish and then add more if needed.

Ingredients

2 Onions, finely chopped
4 tomatoes, pureed 
3 potatoes, boiled and diced
1 cup green peas (I used frozen peas which I defrosted) 
1 tsp ginger paste
1 tsp garlic paste
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp coriander powder
1/4 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp goda masala (or garam masala)
2 cups of water
1 tbsp coconut oil
1/4 cup chopped coriander

Salt to taste

Method

Heat the oil on medium heat. Add the mustard seeds and let them sputter. Add in the onion and a pinch of salt and fry for 5-7 minutes until the onion softens. Next add the ginger paste and garlic paste and fry for a minute. Add the turmeric powder, coriander powder and fry for 2-3 minutes before adding the tomato puree and the goda masala (or garam masala). Cook on medium heat for 3-4 minutes.

Add the potatoes, peas and and half of the coriander along with 2 cups of water. Simmer on low heat for 5 minutes. If you like the curry to be thicker, add only about a cup of water and add more only if needed.

Add salt and mix well. Garnish with the remaining coriander. Serve with rotis or rice.  

p.s The little one loved eating aloo matar with rice. Happy baby happy mum :)

Prawns pitta fajita

Sorry for the confusing name. I did mean to make prawn fajitas but since I had some pittas which I wanted to use up, I decided to use pitta instead of wraps.  :)

With an aim to use up things in the fridge and reduce food waste, I used the ingredients which I already had. I've used feta cheese but you can use grated cheddar. Also instead of yoghurt you can use sour cream.  

Ingredients

For the pitta fajitas

200 gms raw prawns,  shelled and cleaned

About 1 pepper, de-seeded and cut into strips (I used 1/4 of a red, yellow and green pepper each)

1 tbsp oil

1/2 tsp garlic granules

1 tsp chilli powder (or as per taste)

1/2 cup yoghurt

1/2 a cup of feta cheese

4 pittas

Guacamole made from 2 avocados (Recipe here )

For the Salsa

1/2 a small onion, finely chopped

1 tomato, chopped

1 green chilli, finely chopped

1 tsp lemon juice

Salt and pepper

Coriander, finely chopped

Method

Prepare the salsa - In a bowl, add the tomatoes, onion, green chilli, lemon juice, coriander and mix well. Season with salt and pepper and keep aside.

Prepare the Guacamole

Cook the prawns and peppers - Heat a grill pan on high heat. Add the oil and then the peppers and cook them for 2-3 minutes. Add the prawns and toss. Add the chilli powder and garlic granules and mix well. Cook further for 3-4 minutes or until cooked. Season with salt.

Heat the pittas in a toaster or on a skillet.

Assemble everything on a platter.  Make a pocket in the pitta and stuff it as you like!

Guacamole

Making guacamole is really simple and tastes much much better than store bought. Guacamole is great as a side , in salad bowls, in wraps or sandwiches or as a dip with chips or toasted pitta bread. One thing to note about avocado is that it eventually goes black. Although making it in advance won't affect its taste too much, it will lose the green colour. So it is best to prepare the ingredients in advance but to cut the avocado and mix it with the rest of the ingredients just before serving.

   

Ingredients

2 Avocados 

2 tsp finely chopped onion 

1/2 a tomato, chopped 

1 tsp lemon juice 

A few springs of coriander, finely chopped 

A pinch of paprika or chilli powder 

Freshly ground pepper 

Salt 

Method 

Halve and stone the avocado. Roughly chop it up and add to a bowl. 

Add the finely chopped onions, tomatoes, lemon juice, coriander and the paprika / chilli powder. Season with salt and pepper and toss everything together.

Lunch at Tanner and Co with the baby

Last weekend we went for a family lunch to Tanner and Co. with my mom and the little one. A really nice experience - good food, friendly staff  and most important, the little one seemed to have enjoyed herself too.

We went to the restaurant at about 12.30 so it was busy but not super busy.  There was no waiting and we were attended to immediately. We were settled at our tables with the menu cards and the little one was given some pencils and drawing paper which kept her occupied through lunch! 

We ordered fishcakes with avocado mayonnaise and tomato salsa, cauliflower cheeseburger with pickled red cabbage and chips, buttermilk chicken and waffle with maple syrup and slaw, and a side order of potato and spinach hash. We also ordered some lemonade for us and mac and cheese for the little one. 

The fishcakes which I ordered were really good.  I absolutely loved the presentation. The portion size was perfect for me and I savoured every bite, yum!

The cauliflower burger was a good vegetarian option for mom but probably a bit too big for her though. She enjoyed it but couldn't finish it all. 

The buttermilk chicken and waffle was okay not great so was a bit disappointing. 

The little one liked the mac and cheese and also nibbled on the potato and spinach hash. She seemed to have really like her meal. 

The service was quite slow though - the food took quite long to arrive and so did our bill. 
Overall a good experience. What we really liked was the ambiance and the friendly staff. Will definitely visit again. 

My restaurant rating 4/5  

Rasatle pohe (Flattened rice in coconut milk)

This post is for my Dad. This is my experiment with one of his favourite breakfast dishes which in Marathi is called Rasatle Pohe (translated as flattened rice in sauce) - Pohe is flattened rice and ras is a sauce. This particular sauce is made of coconut milk which is spiced with a tamarind and chilli paste. 

Traditionally this is made with fresh coconut milk, which is squeezed out of grated coconut. Tamarind is soaked in water and then made into a paste. The tamarind paste is then blended with jaggery (a type of unrefined cane sugar), roasted chillies and peppercorns to form a chutney. Part of this chutney is then added to the coconut milk. When serving, the spiced coconut milk is mixed with the soaked flattened rice. You can add more chutney if you wish, depending on how spicy you like it. 
For convenience I've used store bought coconut milk. I had fresh tamarind so have used it but you could use tamarind pulp instead.

Ingredients

1 cup pohe (flattened rice)
1 400 ml can of coconut milk
20 gms of tamarind (about 1/4 cup tamarind pulp if using store bought)
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 cup jaggery, grated
15 peppercorns
4-5 dry red chillies
Salt to taste

Method

Wash the pohe and soak them in water. 

In another bowl, wash and soak the tamarind in a little bit of water. 

Heat a saucepan on low heat. Add the peppercorns, cumin and dry red chilli and dry roast for a couple of minutes.  

Squeeze the tamarind to form a pulp.

Blend the roasted spices, the tamarind pulp and jaggery to form a paste. Add salt to taste. The chutney is ready.

Keep half of this chutney mixture aside. Blend the rest with the coconut milk (I prefer to use a blender but you could just mix it with a spoon).

Drain the pohe and remove excess water by lightly squeezing them using your palms.

While serving, mix the pohe with the spiced coconut milk. I always add some extra chutney to mine :)

Breakfast at Bill's restaurant (Bluewater) with the baby

After a hectic week, today, instead of getting up and starting with the usual weekend chores, we decided to go out for a nice family brunch. We decided to go to Bills restaurant since we have wanted to try it out for a while and also thought it looked quite baby friendly the last time we had passed by it. 

On arrival, we were immediately attended to. There was a 5 minute waiting time so the waitress handed us some menu cards which we could go through while we were waiting. I already knew what I was having since I had looked up the menu on the way to the restaurant. So when our table was ready, as soon as we settled the little one in her booster chair (which we usually carry with us whenever we are able to), we were ready to order. 

We ordered a Carrot, Orange and Ginger juice each to start. We decided to order the Bill's breakfast and Eggs Benedict for us and a toast with scrambled eggs and avocado on the side for the little one. She loves bread and avocados but isn't a fan of scrambled eggs. We just thought we'll order it anyway just in case she decides to have it.

  

The little one chose to eat only avocados! :)

The food was good. I wouldn't say it was exceptional but the ambiance was nice, staff were very friendly and attentive. The little one too seemed to be comfortable here which now is the first thing we look for in a place so overall we had a lovely time. 
My restaurant rating -  3.5/5   

p.s. In case you are wondering, the booster seat is the 'Summer Infant Sit n Style Booster Seat' from Amazon 

* This is not a sponsored post