Sweet Potato Celery Bisque

I just got back from a lovely vacation to Kufri,where all I did was eat, trek, hike, and eat some more. The butter on my paranthas will come back to haunt me, I just know it. So I started eating healthy and light, and found some wonderful gems to support my mission.

This healthy, filling, flavourful bisque is very, very loosely adapted from this recipe, which I have used more for an idea guideline. I always wanted to try out a vegetarian bisque. The beauty of this is its minimal ingredients, and ease of cooking.

Servings: 4
Preparation time: 5 mins
Cooking time: 12-15 mins.




Ingredients:
2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped roughly
1 medium firm, slightly ripe apple, chopped, with skin on (I used Granny Smith here)
1 small celery bunch, roughly chopped
1 medium onion, roughly chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
salt, as needed
black peppercorns, coarsely ground, 1 teaspoon
Water, about 1 and half cups.
1 tablespoon grated sharp cheddar cheese

Method:
In a deep pan, add the olive oil and onions and slightly sauté.
Add the sweet potatoes, apples, and a pinch of salt. cover and cook for about 2 mins on a medium flame
Add the celery, and cover for another minute.
Add the water, cover, and boil for about 10 mins on high.
Once cool, purée with a hand blender (or in a mixer/food processor), but not too smooth.
Add salt, pepper (I like mine hot so I used more pepper here), and more water if needed.
Serve warm with grate cheese on top.

Yes, Coffee. On. My. Hair

I've been reading a lot on the internet, about colouring hair with coffee, or using coffee on your hair to simply make it look better, and I thought, "Gee, why not". The coffee Pat brought back from Brazil over two years ago STILL occupies place in my freezer, so I decided to give it a go.

One word - AMAZING! Now, I don't know if its the quality of the coffee, or the effects of caffeine on hair, or just the placebo effect in my head -but it worked! The second try, my hair fall  significantly reduced, and my hair is shiny! I love! But here's where I get honest and say, at least for me, there was almost zero effect in terms of hiding greys (yes, I'm 28 and have a few, I might as well get used to admitting it).

So the simplest procedure that works for me is simply poring a tablespoon of hot water over a teaspoon of coffee grounds, rubbing this onto my scalp, and conditioning the rest of my hair as usual. So soft and shining :)

Good luck in case you decide to try it out (As long as your hair is brown), and do let me know...

Cabbage stir-fry

This one goes out to my friend Angana who has been pestering me for "less oil wala recipes". Her lament is that Indian vegetables are not very easily available outside of India (oh well...) so here comes a series of recipes that can be prepared in record time, have a whole lot of optional ingredients, and a lot of flexibility...

SO here's the Cabbage stir-fry

Ingredients
1) 2 cups chopped cabbage(green) (substitues: chopped brussell sprouts, chopped red cabbage, chopped iceberg lettuce chopped chards)
2) 1/3 cup chik peas (chana), soaked and steamed. (substitues: green peas, red beans, black beans, garbanzo beans - pink beans, or any legume)
3) 1 1/2 teaspoons coriander powder
4) 1 teaspoon paprika/red chilli powder
5) Juice of half a lemon
6) 1/4 teaspoon cumin seeds
7) 2 teaspoons oil
8) salt
9) chopped cialntro (optional)

Procedure:
1) Blanch the main vegetable (put in boling water for 2 minutes and remove from heat)
2) In a pean, heat the oil and add the cumin seeds.
3) Add the legume and stir for a minute.
4) Add the main vegetable, sprinkle 1 tablespoon of water, add the salt and cover
5) cook for 3-4 mins on low heat
6) Add the red chilli powder, coriander powder and stir.
7) Add lemon juice and cilantro just before serving

Cold Pasta Salad

This is definitely one of my go to Dishes. About a couple months back P suggested a picnic. And boy was I thrilled! I made a lot of stuff, Packed it, got a bag for trash, a nonsensical book, and I was ready! We sat in a bamboo grove, talked, ate, read, relaxed. Until the monkeys came. I think they liked the pasta too :) else it would have been pretty insulting!

This is something that can be whipped up in 10 minutes flat whether I am making it for 3 people or 30. Definitely my go to dish. With a slice of cheesy whole wheat or rye toast, I think it can pretty much make a complete meal.

You will need

1 handful of mini pasta per person (I'm making this dish to serve 2-3)

1 medium sized carrot, chopped into small bits

1 small handful fresh or frozen green peas

1 small handful fresh or frozen sweet corn

6 medium sized French beans, chopped into small pieces

15 large red grapes or 15 ripe small strawberries, quartered

1 handful chopped black olives

2 pinches dried parsley or one teaspoon fresh parsley

2 pinches dried oregano or one teaspoon fresh oregano

2 pinches dried basil or one teaspoon fresh basil

1 teaspoon chopped fresh mint

juice of 1 lime

1 or 2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil

1 or 2 teaspoons cheese powder

salt to taste.

Method:

Boil the pasta al dente, run cold water over it and keep aside (the baby pasta I get here takes me 7 minutes to cook. Just for the white backdrop and color riot, I stick to durum wheat pasta but whole wheat pasta is definitely a healthier option)

Blanch/parboil the vegetables and keep aside.

Mix the pasta, cooked vegetables, fruit (in the interest of both taste and color, these two fruits work the best), and olives.

Add the herbs, salt, olive oil, lemon juice, and stir.

Refrigerate if preferred at a lower temperature. If refrigerating, add lime juice just before serving.

Add cheese powder also just before serving.

Serve on its own or with cheese toasts.

Rasam 1 - Pepper Rasam

My MBA School stirs up some strong memories - very good friends and very bad food. Justifiably, I'm still surprised when one of those very good friends says, "I want to make Rasam, XIME style" Uh. Ok. But there are also memories from childhood, from when my Grandmom would force a big glass of this down my throat the minute I started to cough. Angana, here's a tastier, authentic South Indian variation. I hope it helps you beat the Switzerland cold also :)

You will need

3 large, fresh red tomatoes - very finely chopped or boiled and crushed by hand.

3 large cloves garlic, smashed once with a knife

2 pinches black pepper (or you can take it upto 1 teaspoon if you like it spicy) (available in most Indian stores)

1 pinch turmeric powder

1/2 teaspoon Rasam powder (optional, if available, but pepper usage needs to be monitored)

10 curry leaves or 1 tablespoon cilantro/dhaniya patta, chopped

1 teaspoon tamarind paste OR juice of 1 lemon (I prefer lemon for pepper Rasam)

1 teaspoon light cooking oil or ghee

1 large pinch cumin seeds.

Salt to taste

Preparation:

1) Heat oil/ghee and add cumin seeds. When they swell, add the garlic and stir.

2) When the garlic starts changing color, add chopped tomatoes and salt and fry till tomatoes start cooking. If using boiled tomatoes, see step 3

3) When the garlic starts changing color, add the tomatoes and stir for 30 seconds on high.

4) Add the turmeric powder

5) Add about 600 ml of water, and salt if required. If using tamarind paste, add it now.

6) Let the Rasam boil for about 5 minutes, and add the pepper powder. Boil for another minute.

7) Add the lemon if using.

8) Finish with curry leaves/chopped cilantro leaves.

9) Serve hot with rice, or on its own as soup.

Note: Traditional Rasam uses cooked and mashed lentils (dal) as a binder. 1 tablespoon can be added to this version as well, but Pepper Rasam is more watery than the regular Rasam.

(Image Courtesy: rakskitchen.net)

Yellow Pumpkin Soup

Before I got married, I would subsist on soup. Every. Single. Night. Many thanks to Kanchan who made me relive those days. The days where I didn't need to keep stressing on the importance of vegetables, because I would get enough. And to emphasize how awesome a simple bowl of colored goop can be, I start here a soup series.

Soups are the most innovative way to eat vegetables, according to me. They cook enough so that the texture is not a bother, while retaining all the essential components. And the possibilities of experimentation are virtually endless.

This is the easiest, most flavorful and tasty variant I have ever made.

Serves 3-4. Preparation/Cooking time - 20 mins

Ingredients

1) Yellow/Red Pumpkins - about half a kg, or 1 1/2 pounds (You can use any species that belongs to the colored pumpkin family - squash, butternut squash, anything, as long as it is fresh)

2) Salt

3) 2 Bay Leaves

4) Red Chilly flakes - 2 large pinches

5) Coarsely ground black pepper - 1 large pinch

6) Chopped parsley - 1 large tablespoon

7) Saffron strands - a pinch

8) Yogurt (plain) - beaten (optional) - 1/2 tablespoon per cup

9) Toasted pumpkin seeds - optional.

Procedure:

1) Take the skin off the pumpkin - easiest way to to this is to cut the pumpkin into 12-16 pieces, skin and all, and slash off the skin with a knife. Steam the pumpkin in a CLOSED container - a cooker makes the most sense. Add a little salt and the bay leaves to the cooker to steam.

2) Once the pumpkin is cooked, puree the pieces into a smooth paste (after discarding the bay leaves).

3) Dilute with vegetable stock/water, add the chilly flakes and pepper and bring to a boil (on a low flame).

4) Add the saffron when the soup starts boiling.

5) Add 3/4 of the parsley and turn off the heat 5 minutes after doing so.

6) Garnish with a pinch of fresh parsley, a yogurt swirl, and the pumpkin seeds.

I like eating this with a slice of toasted brown bread with olive oil dribbled over it. Yumm!!

Red Coconut Chutney

This is a nice variation and a break from the mundane coconut chutney. Goes well with the lighter south Indian stuff like rava dosa, rice dosa, etc.

Ingredients:

1) 1 cup coconut pieces
2) 1 and 1/2 tablespoons black gram (urad daal)
3) 1 and 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds (jeera)
4) salt to taste
5) 4-7 dried red chillies (depending on how spicy you like it)
6) 1/4 teaspoon tamarind paste OR 1/4 teaspoon dry mango powder
7) 10 curry leaves
8) 1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
9) a pinch of asafoetida
10) 1 teaspoon oil.

Ingredients:

1) Grind Ingredients 1-6 together to a dry powder
2) Add water at room temperature till it becomes a fine paste.
3) heat oil. Add Ingredients 7,8 and 9 till mustard seeds pop and curry leaves are crunchy.
4) Add the oil mixture to the chutney and serve hot!!