Colourful Pulao

Ingredients:
Basmati rice - 3 cups
Ghee - 6 tbsp
Cloves - 5
Green cardamom pods - 5
Bay leaves - 2
Salt - 1.5 tsp
Water - 1.3 liters (a little over 5 cups)
A few drops each of yellow, green and red food colouring

Servings: 6-8
Time (cook+prep):

Method:
Wash the rice, drain and set aside in a strainer. Heat the ghee in a saucepan and toss in the cloves, cardamoms, bay leaves and salt. Lower the heat and add the rice. Stir for 2 min. Add the water and bring to a boil. Cover and cook on reduced heat for 15-20 min. Pour a few drops of each colouring at different sides of the pan. Leave standing for 5 min, then mix gently and serve.

Author: Shrinkingsodacan
Source: Shehzad Husain & Rafi Fernandez' book

Balti Butter Chicken

Ingredients:
Chicken breast, cubed - 1.5 kg
Greek yogurt - 1 cup (250 ml)
Almonds, skinned - 1 cup
Red chili powder - 2.5 tsp
Bay leaves - 4
Cloves - 4-6
Cinnamon - 2 sticks
Garam masala - 2 tsp
Green cardamom pods - 6
Ginger-garlic paste - 1 tbsp
Tomatoes - 3 (or 2/3 of a can)
Onions - 2 large
Kasuri methi (dried fenugreek leaves) - 1 tbsp
Coriander leaves - 2 tbsp chopped + a few sprigs for garnish
Light cream - 6 tbsp
Salt - Just under 2 tsp
Butter, unsalted - 200 g (about 8 tbsp)
Oil - 2 tbsp

Servings: 6-9

Time (cook+prep):

Method:
Mix together half of the ginger-garlic paste, half the chili powder, half the garam masala and 1/2 tsp salt together and rub into the chicken pieces. Heat the oil in a wok and sauté the chicken pieces for a few minutes (they should not cook all the way through). Remove the chicken pieces and set aside. In the same oil, add the rest of the dry spices and fry for a minute or two, then add the onions and the remaining ginger-garlic paste and fry for a couple of minutes. Add the kasuri methi and mix well, and fry until the onions start turning golden. Add the tomatoes, stir and cook covered on a medium flame so that the tomatoes blend into the spice mixture. Cool the mixture and grind to a fine paste.

Melt the butter in a pan without letting it smoke. If any liquid has separated from the chicken, add it to the hot butter. Mix in the ground paste and cook for 5-10 min. Lower the flame to medium and mix in the chopped coriander leaves and cream. After a few minutes, add the chicken and simmer for a few more minutes. Serve warm garnished with coriander sprigs.

Author: Shrinkingsodacan
Source: A mix of the recipes from Shehzad Husain & Rafi Fernandez's book and this Vahrevah recipe.

Aloo Palak (Potatoes with spinach) - gravy version

Ingredients:
Potatoes, peeled and cut into bite size pieces - 3 large
Spinach leaves, fresh - 1 big bag
Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
Onions, finely chopped - 2 med
Green chillies, slit lengthwise - 2
Ginger-garlic paste - 1 tsp
Red chili powder - 1 tsp
Coriander powder - 1 tsp
Garam masala - 1 tsp
Water - 1.5 cups
Oil - 1 tbsp
Salt - 1 tsp or to taste

Time: 10 min prep + 30 min cook
Servings: 4-5

Method:
Heat a tsp of oil in a wok and sautée the potato pieces for a few minutes. Set aside.

Blanche the spinach leaves and immediately dunk in cold water. Drain and set aside.

In a wok, heat 1 tbsp of oil and add the cumin seeds. When they start to splutter, add the onion and fry until translucent. Mix in the ginger-garlic paste and fry for a few minutes. Now add the red chili powder and coriander powder and mix to coat well. If the mixture is too dry, you can add a small amount (1 tsp?) of water and mix well. Add the spinach leaves, stir fry for 5 min and add the potato pieces and garam masala (once again, if mixture is too dry add a tsp of water). Cook for 7 min on low heat.  Add enough water to cover the potato pieces. Add salt and cook on medium flame until the potatoes are cooked through (10-12 min). Serve hot with chapatis or rice.

Author: Shrinkingsodacan
Source: Based on this recipe.

Sindhi Baingan Sabzi (Eggplant)

Ingredients:
Eggplants, diced - 4-6
Potatoes, diced (optional) -  2 medium
Tomato purée - about 2 cups (or 4 tomatoes chopped fine)
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Cumin powder - 1 tsp
Coriander powder - 1 tsp
Green chillies, slit lengthwise - 2-3
Ginger, chopped - 1" piece
Garlic, minced - 3-4 cloves (or use 1-2 tsp ginger-garlic paste)
Red chili powder - 1/2 tsp (optional)
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Oil - 2 tbsp
Coriander leaves, chopped - a handful (optional)
Salt - to taste

Time (cook+prep): under 20 min
Servings: 2-3

Method:
Heat the oil in a wok and add the cumin seeds to it. When the seeds start to crackle, add the green chillies and ginger-garlic paste and stir fry for 1-2 min. Mix in the potato and eggplant pieces and mix well to coat uniformly with oil. After 2 min, add turmeric, red chili, cumin and coriander powders. Mix well for a minute, then mix in the tomato purée and salt. Stir occasionally until the potatoes and eggplants are cooked and slightly mashed. Add a little water if necessary. Serve garnished with coriander leaves.

Author: Shrinkingsodacan
Source: This recipe

Green beans curry with coconut

Ingredients:
Green beans, cut into < 2" pieces - about 3 cups
Coconut, grated - about 1 cup
Garlic - 3-4 cloves
Red chili, dried - 2-3
Cashews, halved or broken pieces - 1/2 cup (optional)
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Curry leaves - 3-4 (optional)
Hing (asafoetida) - a pinch (optional)
Salt - to taste
Oil - 1 tbsp

Servings: 2-3
Time (cook+prep): 15 min

Method:
Bring water to boil in a large vessel. Cook the beans in this water so they are cooked almost all the way (less than 10 min). In the meantime, grind the garlic and red chillies with 1-2 tsp of water. Slowly add the grated coconut, adding extra water if necessary, and grind to a thick smooth paste.

Drain the beans. In a wok, heat the oil and add the cashews and mustard seeds and stir until the seeds splutter. Now add the curry leaves, hing and salt and stir well. Lower the flame to medium and slowly add the ground paste, mixing in some water if necessary. Add the drained beans and stir well. Add enough water so that the beans can cook, but not too much or the paste will be diluted. Cook covered on a medium or low flame until the beans are done. Serve hot with rice.

Author: Shrinkingsodacan

Ham Cake

While in Munich in 2003, a French friend brought over a loaf of what looked like yellow cake to a party at our place. He said it was "ham cake", which sounded very weird. However, when you got over the fact that it wasn't dessert, it was delicious. I decided to recreate it last week, and it was delicious. The recipe below is inspired by this food.com page. I'd like to try the same recipe with bacon, of course! Since I used sliced deli ham, I wonder if it would be just as easy to replace it with sliced turkey or chicken?

Ingredients:
Eggs - 4
White flour - 1 2/3 cups
Baking powder - 2 1/2 tsp
Olive oil - 1/3 cup
Butter, melted - 2 tbsp
Dry white wine (I used Prosecco) - 1/2 cup
Port wine - 1/4 cup
Green or black olives, pitted and sliced - 1 1/2 cups
Ham, chopped - 2 cups
Emmenthaler or gruyère cheese, cubed (I grated it) - 2 cups
Salt - use with caution, as the ham and olives probably already have quite a bit
Pepper
 

Cooking time (cook+prep): about 1 hr

Servings: 8-10 slices

Method:
Preheat oven to 200C or 390F
Beat the eggs in a large mixing bowl. Stir in the flour, baking powder, olive oil, melted butter, wine and port. Now add the ham, cheese, olives, salt and pepper. Note: you may be able to get away with using no salt if the ham and olives are salty enough. Pour mixture into a greased bread tin (we greased it with ghee!) and bake for about 50 min or until well risen and golden brown. Slice and serve warm or cold.

Author: Shrinkingsodacan
Source: Food.com

Mushroom Cornbread Stuffing (James' Recipe)

This year for Thanksgiving, I emailed James for a recipe for stuffing. It turned out fantastic, we were able to find all the ingredients in Munich and it was pretty easy to make. Instead of repeating the recipe here, I'll just point to James' recipe page here.

Author: Shrinkingsodacan
Source: James Davies' recipe