Bengali Mutton Curry

Ingredients:

1kg Mutton, cubed

3 large onions, made into a paste

1 large tomato, pureed

11/2 tsp Ginger garlic paste

11/2 tsp Red Chilli Powder

1/2 tsp Turmeric Powder

Salt to taste

Mustard Oil

3 Potatoes, halved

In a pressure cooker, mix mutton with mustard oil, onion paste, ginger garlic paste, tomato puree, salt, red chilli powder and turmeric powder. Close cooker and cook on medium flame and leave after it gets to full steam. Let out the steam and open cooker. Check if mutton has softened. Bring to boil till water dries up a bit. Add the potatoes and a little bit of water and close cooker again. Bring to steam on medium heat and let it simmer for a while. Open cooker, check if mutton has softened and potatoes have boiled. Bring to boil again, and close cooker. Turn off gas. Open lid again when serving.

Sweet Wine Lavender Cookies Recipe

Ingredients
1 cup plus 1-1/2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
1/3 cup lavender sugar (recipe below)
Pinch of salt
4 Tbsp butter
2-1/2 Tbsp sweet white wine
12 leaves of fresh lavender, chopped finely

Instructions
Sift the flour, all but 1 tablespoon of the sugar, and the salt into a bowl. Rub in the butter until the mixture resembles bread crumbs. Make a well in the center and add the wine and the lavender leaves and stir in gently. Leave the mixture for 10 minutes, stirring now and again, by which time it will have bonded together, then knead together to make a soft dough.

Roll out the dough on a floured board about 1/8 inch thick and use a serated pasta wheel to cut out small strips, about 2 inches by 1 inch. Place on a buttered baking tray, giving one half of each strip a twist, as you do so to make the cookies look just like little bows. Bake at 375 degrees F for about 6 to 8 minutes or until edges are just turning brown. Cool on a wire rack and sprinkle with the remaining sugar.

Lavender Sugar:
Mix 2 tablespoons of spikes of fresh lavender flowers or 1 tablespoon of dried lavender flowers with 1 cup of superfine sugar. Select a glass jar and make alternate layers of sugar and lavender flowers until the jar is full. Cover tightly and leave in a warm, dry room for 1 to 2 weeks. Shake the jar through a sieve before use. This method is similar to the conventional method you use to make vanilla sugar.

Grilled Salmon with Nasturtium Vinaigrette

Ingredients
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup onions, finely diced
3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
Salt to taste and freshly ground pepper
3/4 cup snipped nasturtium flowers
1/4 cup snipped fresh chives
8 (3 ounces each) pieces of salmon fillet
Chives for garnish

Preheat broiler or grill. Mix vinegar, onions, and all but 2 tablespoons olive oil. Whisk until mixed well. Add Salt and pepper to taste. Add nasturtiums and chives. Rub salmon with remaining olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Place on grill for 3 minutes. Turn, and cook until done (about 3 more minutes, depending on thickness). Place two pieces of salmon on each serving plate. Whisk vinaigrette and spoon over salmon. Garnish with fresh chives.

Using Flowers in Food

Moving a little bit away from the usual recipes today, I want to share something rather unusual: the use of flowers in food. This is not all that unusual because lavender, jasmine, marigold and nasturtiums have been used as food for centuries now. How? We’ll see.

Nasturtiums can be a great addition to salads. They add just the amount of delicate piquant flavor to salads.

Scented geraniums and borage flowers can be used to decorate the tops of lemons, and believe me, the aroma is amazing.

Crystallize primrose flowers by mixing a spoon of Gum Arabic in a tablespoon of rose water. Set aside till it becomes a thick paste and then paint it on the petals of the flowerets. Dip these in superfine syrup and leave to dry and become crisp. They can be used later to decorate cakes. To store them, put them in an airtight container.

Soft creamy puddings can be decorated with rose petals.

Put lavender flowers in lemon syrup or a fruit sorbet for a beautifully perfumed flavor.

Put water in an ice tray and drop tiny flowers or petals in it, put some more water and let it freeze. The flower gets set in th middle of the cube and can make wonderfully unique ice cubes for your drinks next time.

Tulips can be used to hold mousse and small amounts of dessert.

In general, edible flowers include: carnation, chrysanthemum, hibiscus, red clover, scented geranium, tulip, lavender, rose, apple, chervil, chive, *English* (not American) daisy, oxeye daisy, day lily, calendula, elderberry, lilac, mustard, nasturtium, orange, garden pea, plum, arugula, rosemary, sage, squash, violets, johnny-jump-ups, pansy, grape hyacinth (muscari), honeysuckle, lemon, pumpkin and squash blossoms.

Why this sudden post? Well, I have been working on dried flowers for sometime now, and it is the mot wonderful project one can work on. It got me all sucked in, so I began looking around for what else to do with flowers, hence…

Creamy Egg Masala

Ingredients
Eggs 6 nos
Milk 250 ml
Onions 2 nos
Ginger 1 inch
Green chillies 4 nos
Coriander 1 tbsp chopped fine
Garam masala ½ tsp
Ghee 1 tbsp
Cream 4 tbsp
Salt to taste

Method
Hard boil eggs and shell them. Grind onions, ginger and chillies to a paste. Heat ghee in a pan and fry the onion-ginger paste for a minute. Add whole shelled eggs and fry till the onion paste turns pale brown. Add cream, milk and salt. When milk starts to boil, add coriander and let the curry simmer on low heat till the gravy thickens. Remove from heat and split eggs into halves. Sprinkle garam masala and serve hot

Stir-fried Vegetables

Ingredients
1/2 cup baby corn, sliced
1/2 cup onion, cubed
1/4 cup yellow pepper, cubed
1/4 cup red pepper, cubed
1/4 cup capsicum, cubed
1 tomato, diced
1 teaspoon cumin seeds (jeera)
2 tablespoons chopped coriander
1 tablespoon butter
black salt to taste

Method

1.Cut the tomato into half. Remove and discard the pulp. Cut the firm portion into cubes and keep aside.

2.Heat the butter in a pan and add the cumin seeds. When the cumin seeds crackle, add the baby corn, onions, yellow and red peppers, capsicum and tomato.

3.Stir fry for some time and then add the coriander and black salt.

4.Serve hot.

Beef Curry 1

Ingredients:

1 lb beef, cut into 1″ cubes
2 tbsp lemon juice
2 tsp salt
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 chilies, finely chopped
2 tbsp coriander, ground
1 tsp cumin, ground
1 tbsp turmeric
1 tsp powdered ginger
2 tsp black pepper
4 oz tomato paste
1 1/4 cup beef stock
1/4 cup ghee (or butter)
2 tbsp garam masala

Method:

1. Marinate the meat in lemon juice and salt. Mix the onion, garlic and chili together well.
2. Heat the ghee in a heavy saucepan over medium heat and fry the onion mixture for 2 minutes.
3. Add the coriander, cumin, turmeric, ginger and pepper, stir well and cook for another 2-3 minutes.
4. Add the beef and lemon juice, stir well to coat the meat with the spices. Cook for 5-10 minutes.
5. Stir in the tomato paste and beef stock
6. Sprinkle in the garam masala and pressure cook till beef becomes tender
7. The gravy should by this stage be very thick, if it is not remove the lid from the pan and increase the heat to boil off excess moisture until the gravy thickens.

My Malayali Friend’s Egg Curry Recipe

Ingredients:

Hard boiled eggs - 8 nos
(Shell the eggs and make little slits around it with a butter knife)
Onions(medium) - 2 nos
Tomato puree - from 4 tomatoes
Ginger/garlic paste - 1tsp
Fennel seeds - 1 tsp
Cinnamon - 1/2″ stick
Clove- 5 nos
Cardamom - 3 - 4 nos
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Red chilly powder - 1 tsp
Salt - As reqd
*Heavy whipping cream - 1 small tetra pack
Oil - 2 - 3 tbsp

*It`s not whipped cream, you will find this in the dairy section along with milk.

Directions:

1)Grind the fennel seeds, cinnamon, cloves and cardamom to a powder.
2)Heat oil in a pan or a kadai.
3)Add ginger and garlic paste and fry for 2 mins.
4)Add onions and fry, till golden.
5)Add the tomato puree and fry, till the excess water evaporates.
6)Add the turmeric powder, chilly powder, salt and ground spice mixture and mix well and fry for 2 mins.
7)Add the eggs to this and coat them well with the masala.
8)Cover the vessel for a minute.
9)Add 1 cup water to it and let it boil.
10)Check for salt and add more, if reqd.
11)Add the heavy whipping cream to this and stir it.
:- Heat it well, but do not let it boil after adding the whipping cream.

Parsi Dal

Ingredients of this recipe:
1 cup Split Red Lentil (Masoor Dal)
a pinch of Turmeric Powder (Haldi)
2 chopped Green Chilli (Hari mirch)
2 flakes chopped Garlic (Lasan / Lahsun)
2 tblsp Clarified Butter (Ghee)
Salt to taste
1 tblsp chopped Coriander Leaves (Dhania Patta)
1 tsp Cumin Seeds (Jeera)

Method to make this recipe : parsi dal:
Cook the dal with the turmeric powder and sufficient water in a pressure cooker.
Cook till the dal is cooked.
Remove from the flame.
Mash the dal with a wooden spoon. keep aside in a pan.
Heat the ghee in a pan.
Add the garlic,salt, green chillies and the cumin seeds.
Fry for a minute over a low flame and pour over the dal.
Return the dal to a low flame.
Add a little water if required(the dal should have the consistency of sambhar) and cook for 2 minutes. remove from the flame.
Serve hot garnished with the coriander leaves.

Masala Dal

Ingredients of this recipe:
1 cup Split Red Lentil (Masoor Dal)
5 slit Green Chilli (Hari mirch)
1 tblsp chopped Coriander Leaves (Dhania Patta)
1/2 tsp Turmeric Powder (Haldi)
1/2 cup grated Coconut
Salt to taste
1 tsp Mustard Seeds (Raai / Raee)
1 tsp Cumin Seed (Jeera)
2 chopped Tomato (Tamatar)
1 tblsp Oil
1 meduim sized sliced Onion (Pyaj)

Method to make this recipe : masala dal:
Wash and soak the gram for 30 minutes.
Grind the grated coconut with a little water to a smooth paste in a blender.keep aside.
Fry the sliced onions till golden brown. remove and keep aside.
Cook the gram in a pressure cooker with just sufficient water to cook the dal until soft.
Remove the lid of the cooker and add the green chillies , turmeric powder tomatoes and salt. cook for 3 minutes.
When the tomatoes are cooked add the coconut paste. mix thoroughly.
Cook for a minute and remove from the flame.
Heat the oil in a pan. add the mustard seeds, when they crackle add the cumin seeds.
Fry for a few seconds over a low flame. pour over the dal.
Serve hot garnished with the fried onions and the chopped coriander leaves.