Kale- two ways

 

I was introduced to kale a while back at this PR event where they served it crispy, and I loved it. From then on Ive wanted to try it at home but never actually got around to doing it. This time too I picked up a pack of curly kale leaves to make crispy kale, but obviously my mind (and tummy) had other plans. I decided to make a thoran and then half way through I suddenly changed my mind and decide to also make dal with half of it. Yes that's how my mind works, no planning, nothing :)

I have also started freezing anything and everything possible, and did the same with this as well. Both dal and thoran were put into freezer bags and stashed away for a day I would be absolutely lazy to cook. Replace the kale with spinach for spinach dal and spinach (cheera) thoran (shall be attempting this soon).

Kale dal

 

Moong dal- 1/2 cup

Green chilli- 1, slit

Garlic- 4 pods, roughly chopped

Water- 2 cups

Cumin seeds- 1/2 tsp

Dry red chillies- 2

English shallots- 3, finely chopped (or 1 small onion)

Turmeric powder- 1/2 tsp

Kashmiri chilli powder- 1/2 tsp

Asafoetida- 1 generous pinch

Fenugreek powder- 1/5 tsp (optional)

Tomato- 1, finely chopped

Kale- 3 cups, washed and roughly chopped

Oil- 2 tbsp

Salt- to taste

 

Cook the dal with the green chilli, garlic 1/4 tsp of turmeric powder, salt and water in a pressure cooking till done (around 2 to 3 whistles on medium heat).

Remove from fire, open the life once the pressure releases on its own and lightly mas the dal with the back of a spoon. 

If you feel its too thick, add more water, put it back on flame and bring to a boil. Keep aside.

Heat the oil in a sauce pan and add the cumin seeds and red chillies.

Once they slightly sizzle, add the shallots and cook on medium fire till they turn a golden brown, 6 to 7 minutes.

Add the powders- turmeric, chilli, asafoetida and fenugreek- and continue sauteeing till the oil starts to surface slightly.

In goes the tomato. Cook till they get mashed and you get a thick masala.

At this point add the kale and mix it all in. 

Add salt and cover and cook till the kale gets wilted a bit (it doesn't get wilted like spinach though).

Pour in the cooked dal and give one good stir to mix it all in. Check for salt and add more if necessary.

Bring to a gentle boil and then simmer for about 5 minutes after which you can transfer to a serving bowl and have it hot with rice, pappad and pickle.

Kale thoran (kale with coconut and spices)

Kale- 3 cups

Dessicated coconut- 1/2 cup (I use frozen)

Cumin seeds- 1/4 tsp

Garlic- 3 pods, peeled

Shallots- 7 to 8, peeled

Turmeric powder- 1/4 tsp

Green chilli- 1

Salt- to taste

Oil- 1 tbsp

Mustard seeds- 1/4 tsp

Curry leaves- 1 sprig

Dry red chillies- 2

 

Grind together coarsely the coconut, cumin seeds, garlic, shallots, turmeric powder and green chilli and salt in a spice grinder or using a pestle and mortar. It need not be paste like. Keep aside.

Heat oil in a heavy bottomed deep pan and splutter mustard seeds with curry leaves and dry red chilli.

Into this add the ground mix and saute for a couple of minutes, just to get rid of the rawness. Don't brown the coconut.

Add the kale and mix well. Pour in a tbsp of water and cover and cook for about 10 minutes on medium flame, stirring occasionally.

Check for salt, add more if needed, give a final stir and transfer to a serving bowl.

Curried spinach and mushroom tarts

I have this knack to do things wrong. Its not a very frequent thing (although if you ask Ro, he would say its a recurring event), but since you cant ask him, I'm just going to go ahead and say its not always that I do idiotic things. I have the inane ability to tear packets and boxes without reading instructions. I rip them apart the wrong way which in turn makes it impossible to seal them back and then I have to hide it from Ro (who is annoyingly systematic and precise) so I don't get a dose from him. I attribute it to my 'no patience' trait which I don't know who I inherited from..mum, dad??? a little help here???

So the latest to the list are these mini tart tins. Every day for the past couple of weeks I used to pass by it in Sainsburys and notice that it was on a roll back- 3 pounds for 4 mini pans- but I could never decide whether or not I wanted it. I mean you get the sweet and savoury pre-made tart shells to buy so why bother to make them from scratch, was my logic.

 

Until one fine day I woke up and decided it would make a grand (also, unnecessary) addition to my already existing pans and pots, and also I could make tarts from scratch, show off a bit and blog it. Afterall how difficult is it to store 4 small tart tins. So off I went to Sainsburys and what do I see? Its no longer on a roll back but the damn thing now costs 5 bucks for 4 tins. Without even flinching (ya all that logic went down the drain) I put them in my basket, since by then I was already psyched about wanting tart tins and making some tarts for dinner that very day. 

I was also instantly lazy to make pastry from scratch so I picked up ready rolled pastry, did a tiny skip and headed home with my bounty. The tarts came out well, to say the least. In fact super duper well and I am very proud of my acquisition, although Ro later pointed it out to me that they weren't dishwasher safe, oh well bummer! But since he does the dishes anyway, I gave some gyan about how they are 'never' dishwasher safe. He bought it since he has no clue about tart tins :) :) :)

So yes, I do stupid things like that. But thanks to this trait of mine, you now get to see these yummy spinach and mushroom tarts. They are more quiche-like, and is a great breakfast item. Ro is now in the 'i am sick of bread for breakfast' phase and so I am trying to make some fun breakfast items for him. I hope he snaps out of it soon, because I sure am running out of ideas. Spinach and mushrooms are a fav combination of mine and I end up using it in pasta bakes, stir fries and such. Give it a go, and if you don't like it, you can come back and leave hate comments ;)

 

Makes 5 to 6 small tarts

Shortcrust pastry- 1 sheet (recipe follows)

Shallots- 2 medium, thinly sliced

Button mushrooms- 150 gms, cleaned and sliced

Spinach- 100 to 125 gms, washed and chopped roughly

Garlic- 2 tbsp, chopped fine

Curry powder- 1/2 tbsp

Eggs- 2 large

Cheddar cheese- 1/4 cup, grated

Milk- 3/4th cup

Butter- 1 tbsp

Salt and pepper- to taste

Pastry recipe adapted from here

Plain flour- 200 gms

Baking powder- 1/4 tsp
Salt- 1/4 tsp

Cold butter- 100 gms, cut into cubes

Cold water- 3 to 4 tbsp/ as required

Mix together the flour, baking powder and salt in a large mixing bowl.

Add the cubes of butter and rub it into the flour, using your hands. It should resemble coarse bread crumbs.

Add the cold water bit by bit till it all comes together and you get a soft pliable dough.

Cling wrap it and place in the refrigerator while you get the filling going.

Meanwhile, melt the butter in a frying pan and sauté onions and garlic till soft and fragrant, for about 4 to 5 minutes on medium heat.

Add the curry powder and mix thoroughly.

Throw in the chopped mushrooms and sauté till all the water evaporates and is dry.

Finally, add the spinach, salt, a few twists of pepper and cook till the mixture becomes semi-dry in consistency. It shouldn't be too dry, but all the water from the spinach should have disappeared.

Transfer to a bowl and keep aside to cool.

Break the eggs into a bowl and whisk lightly.

Add the milk, season with enough salt and pepper and whisk the mixture well. Keep aside.

When ready to bake, pre heat oven to 180C and lightly grease the tart tins with butter or oil.

Take the dough out of the refrigerator and roll it out on a lightly floured surface.

Cut out circles large enough to fit the tart tins and carefully place the pastry into the cases. Crimp the sides if required. Don't press it in too hard, taking them out can be a problem.

Add about 2 tsp each of the filling into the tart tins, spread it around and pour the milk-egg mix on top of the filling till about 3/4th full.

Repeat till all your filling and milk is used up.

Sprinkle the cheese on top of the filling and place all the tins on a baking tray.

Bake for about 20 to 25 minutes or till the eggs are cooked through. 

Once done, cool on a rack for about 15 minutes and then carefully unmould.

They taste the best on the very same day, but I stored them in an air tight container in the fridge for up to 3 days and used to reheat in the microwave for about a minute or two. Was perfectly fine!

 

Notes: You can either roll out the large ball of pastry and then use a lid or bowl to cut out circles or make small balls from the dough and roll it out to the size of the tart tins. If you already have rolled out pastry, then the first method works best.

Although I bought ready made pastry, I have used Maria's pastry recipe before and it is very easy and works great.

Use any filling of choice, eg, shredded chicken, sausages or even paneer. Paneer and spinach is a great combo BTW!

Store leftover dough, cling wrapped, in the freezer. Thaw completely in the fridge compartment and use as required.

Instead of milk, use double cream for a more richer filling.

Curry powder can be replaced with any meat/chicken masala.

Spanakopita- a Greek savory pastry

I am not an ardent fan of Greek food, but from the one time I tried it, the only dish that impressed me was the Spanakopita. Did some research online and I had to make it part of one of our Saturday brunch sessions...which btw is my favourite meal of the week. You can make them like small filo parcels, but I went ahead and made a pie. I am not in a mood to ramble, so here goes:

Spinach- 500 gms (washed and blanched)

Egg- 1

Feta Cheese- 120gms

Onion- 1, roughly chopped

Garlic- 2 pods, roughly chopped

Filo Pastry sheets- 6 to 8

Melted butter- 1/4 cup for brushing the filo

Olive oil- 1 tbsp

Sat and Pepper- to taste

Preheat the oven to 180C

In a frying pan, heat the oil and sauté onions and garlic till light brown. Add the blanched spinach and sauté for a few more minutes. Season with salt and pepper and keep aside.

Whisk the egg in a mixing bowl and add the cooked mix. Crumble the feta cheese over this and mix till well combined. Its ok if the feta cheese is still lumpy in a few places.

Assembling: Grease a baking dish with butter and place 4 filo pastry sheets on top of each other, generously greasing after each layer, except the last one. Spread the spinach filling over the pastry evenly and cover with the remaining 4 sheets, again following the same procedure of buttering each layer before you put another on top. This time, go ahead and grease the lastpastry as well..so that the buttery top gives a nice golden brown colour.

Bake for about 40 minutes. Remove and leave to cool for a while and then cut into squares and serve with a salad.

Notes: If you want to serve it as a starter, you can make filo parcels instead..like how we roll for spring rolls or samosa with the spinach and feta as filling.

You can replace feta with ricotta cheese.

be careful while you take the filo pastry sheets, it can easily tear and even worse become dry..so have a wet towel ready and keep covering it to keep it moist

I am sending this to the AWED Event hosted by Curry Leaf where the theme for this month is Greek Food. Kudos to DK who kick-started this event. I am also sending it to Dil Se who is hosting this months Healing Foods Event, an event started by Siri's Corner, and the theme is Spinach.

'Brunch' ed Up, eh?

Oh don't you just love the whole idea of a brunch? Well, I do and i love going out to brunch rather than staying at home and making one. Especially after a night out on Saturday, you wake up late on Sunday and head out to a restaurant, have a 3 hour long brunch and if you have friends joining you, even better. So today was brunch day and for a change i decided to do it at home. Boy was it so much more easier and fun to have brunch than to have breakfast at 10 and then get prepared for lunch by the time you are done cleaning up after breakky.

We started off with a rather rich and heavy Frittata, washed it down with a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice followed by buttermilk blueberry pancakes and a cuppa freshly brewed coffee. Yes, you guessed right..we were so full after that to even clean up and now i have a messy kitchen staring back at me. I thought id take a breather, come and blog about it and then get back to cleaning up (which basically means loading the dish washer) ;)

Bacon and Spinach Frittata

Frittata is an Italian omelet mixed with veggies, meats, cheese or rather anything of your choice and served open..and not folded. It is initially cooked on a hob top and finished off under a grill.

Bacon- 3 rashers, cooked and crumbled

Baby Spinach- 1 to 2 cups (depending on your taste. Ro didn't let me put more than a cup)

Garlic pods- 3, chopped fine

Spring onions- 3, chopped fine (both bulb and greens)

Garlic sausages- 3, cooked and chopped (optional)

Eggs- 4

Heavy cream- 30ml

Mature cheddar cheese- less than a 1/4 cup

Pepper powder- as required

Salt- to taste

Baking powder- a pinch (optional)

Clean the spinach leaves, drain and transfer them to a bowl and close with a lid. Cook in the microwave on high for about 2 minutes. Drain off the water and keep aside.

In a large frying pan, cook the bacon and sausages (if using) and preserve the oil.

If there is way too much oil, discard some and in the remaining, sautee the garlic and spring onions till light and fragrant.

Add the spinach, crumbled bacon and sausages. Season with some pepper powder and sautee for a few minutes. Check for salt and only then add, since the bacon and sausages will have some salt content in them.

Beat the eggs, cheddar cheese, cream, salt pepper and baking pwd in a bowl till light and fluffy.

Add this to the frying pan and mix well, without disturbing the ends too much. Try and distribute the filling evenly.

Cook on low fire for about 2 minutes and then cover and cook for a minute or two again. Transfer to a pre-heated grill for another 5 mins max..just to brown the top.

Cut into wedges and serve.

Notes: The garlic sausages were about to expire and so i added that too. The bacon would be good on its own or rather better, because somehow there was a conflict of flavours.

Whole milk can be used instead of heavy cream. I wanted to make sure we don't eat healthy today :)

Add mushrooms, carrots, peas or any veggie of your choice and make it an egg-etariandelight.

If you do not have an oven, you can just carefully turn the egg upside down to brown the top. Be careful though...you shouldn't crack the beautiful round shape. Invert it on to a plate first and then insert that plate back into the frying pan to be double sure. Am i making sense?

Buttermilk Blueberry Pancakes

This is my first time with buttermilk pancakes and i must say it does make a difference to the texture and a slight taste variation. Or am i imagining it, i don't know. I asked Ro and he said he cant remember eating pancakes made by me at all....but clarified that the Tesco one tastes a whole lot different (good different or bad different is a very time consuming argument, so i left it at that)....Thanks for that baby, i am so stupid i didn't know! DUH!

All purpose flour- 1 cup

Sugar- 4 tbsp ( optional)

Baking powder- 3/4 tsp

Baking Soda- 1/4 tsp

Salt- 1/4 tsp

Egg- 1

Buttermilk- 1 cup

Butter- 2 tbsp, melted and cooled slightly

Vanilla extract- 1/4 tsp

Fresh Blueberries- 100 gms

Mix all the dry ingredients (first 5) together and keep aside.

Whisk together the remaining, except the blueberries, and add to the dry ingredients. Stir until it is just blended and then add the blueberries. Give a final stir and keep aside for about 5 to 10 minutes.

Heat a non-stick skillet and pour in one ladle full of batter. After about 3 minutes, bubbles start appearing on top and at that time, flip and cook for another 2 minutes or till golden brown. Repeat till the entire batter is used up. I got about 10 medium size pancakes.

Drizzle some maple syrup, butter or even honey and serve with fresh blueberries on the side. Wanna die sooner? Add some whipped cream :0

Note: Buttermilk can be substituted with whole milk

I tried using an electric grill for the pancakes, but it was surprisingly taking too long and the bubbles were just not there...Hob top skillet is the best.

Use bananas, chocolate chips, strawberries in the place of blueberries, and I'm sure the result will be as 'fruitful' :)

Phew! that was awfully long, i think i'll get Ro to clean up ;)