Home-stylin' Hot Dogs

A childhood favourite and an absolutely fuss-free meal, enjoyed best in front of the idiot box. It's just too easy... and oh so good!

Delicious pork sausages cooked in sticky-sweet hickory barbecue sauce, topped with American mustard, fried crispy sliced onions and stuffed into bread rolls moistened with mayonnaise and pickled gherkins and relish.

Served with a steaming hot salted and buttered corn-on-the-cobb and an iceberg lettuce salad with Italian vinaigrette and sliced boiled eggs.

Kerala's Backwater Culinary Heritage

Appams and Stew is a traditional Christian Keralite breakfast meal that showcases the unique coastal ingredients used commonly in cooking of the state, the ubiquitous coconut. Subtly sweet light, lacy rice pancakes flavoured with undertones of fragrant coconut milk are served with stew which can either be made with potatoes, mutton or chicken in a creamy coconut milk infused with the heady essence of curry leaves. This dish is very much part of Kerala's culinary prowess. I am immensely grateful for my Keralite lineage, (my dad hails from the region and his mother passed on these classics to the family cook.) Appams and stew, become a favourite of the family and all our friends becoming a relished brunch option!

I have included recipes here, but must mention that they are however, not family recipes.

Appams, makes 25

Ingredients: 500 g Rice flour (finely powdered ), 250 ml Coconut milk, Salt to taste, 1 tbsp Sugar, 100 g Semolina, Water

Method: 1. Heat the semolina in a little water to a thick consistency. 2. Remove from the fire and keep it aside to cool. 3. Make a batter with rice flour, coconut milk and water. 4. Add the cooked semolina, soaked yeast and sugar and then mix well. 5. Keep the mixture to ferment for three to four hours. 6. Heat the appam thava (similar to a griddle, a special pan for forming the appam), rub a little oil and pour some batter into it. 7. Turn the batter around in the griddle to form a round crepe - thin edges and a thick middle. 8. Cover with a lid and keep it over a slow fire. 9. After the appam is ready, serve with mutton stew.

Mutton Stew recipe to accompany the Appams. Chicken can be substituted if you like but the mutton meat and bones adds unique flavour combined with the powerful curry leaves.

Ingredients: 250 g Mutton/ Chicken, ½ Coconut or 2 cups Coconut Milk, 2 Onion, 2 Potatoes
3 Tomatoes, 6 Green chilies, ½ Garlic, 4 pieces Ginger, 1 tsp Poppy seeds, ¼ stick Cinnamon,
¼ pod Cloves, 1 tbsp Coriander seeds, ½ bunch Coriander leaves, 2 tbsp Oil, Salt, to taste

Method: 1. Clean, cut and wash the mutton. 2. Slice the onion, chillies and tomatoes. Peel and cut potatoes into four. 3. Grind the coriander seeds and poppy seeds separately to a fine paste.
4. Grind the ginger and garlic together. Add the onions, chillies,tomatoes, masala (the dry spices) and salt to the mutton and mix well. 5. Heat the ghee and add spices. Add the mutton and fry for a while. 6. Add just sufficient water to cook the mutton; cook till it becomes soft and water is absorbed. 7. Grate the coconut and take out 2 cups of milk. 8. Add the coconut milk and chopped coriander leaves. (Add the coconut milk to the stew at the very last minute before serving to avoid the stew splitting as the coconut milk has a tendency to do when the stew is very hot).
9. Simmer and remove from the fire and serve hot.

Mutton Stew with Coconut Milk and Curry Leaves

Kottayam Style Beef Fry traditionally known as Oletherachi

This dish will just blow your mind. The flavours are bold with slivers of crisp coconut and curry leaves adding punch to the tender meat that is first boiled, braised and then pan fried to dry the pan juices and crisping the meat just a little. The most incredible feature of the dish is how the meat manages to retain a moist interior contrasting the textured exterior.

Typically Keralite, India's seafood state: Masala Fried Seer Fish

South Indian Stir-fried Green Bringals (Aubergine) with Lentils and Jaggeri

Pan-Fried Okra or Ladies Finger stuffed with Aam Chur (Dried Sweet-Sour Mango Powder)

Aam Achar - Mango Pickle

Sliced Strawberries drizzled with Maple Syrup and Cinnamon Sugar

And the piece de resistance: Chocolate Gateaux dusted with Powdered Sugar and Fresh Strawberries

Cari's Calamari Ripeni

Seafood and shellfish are some of my favourite ingredients and lately with all the red meat I've been getting my hands on I figures I was about to have a cow-comma soon if I didn't introduce a change to my diet in the near future. So I racked my brain for a recipe the would be appropriate before setting out to get all my ingredients. I reminisced Cari's Calamari Ripeni fondly, oh... what an earth-shattering meal it had been, etched in my memory forever! In fact I featured it on this blog about two months ago. Anyhow, I managed to get her special recipe and my mum and sister decided to take me Spar, the brand new hyper-market located on Banerghatta Road, equipped with a seafood purveyor, meat and chicken purveyor, frozen food section, counters for pickles, jams and jellies and a deli section for imported cheeses, cold-cuts, salumi etc.

Indeed, I was impressed, almost, but one vital ingredient was unavailable, the fennel. And in fact I had to wait for three whole weeks to go by before I spotted a bulb of fennel at my local food world store, and boy did I jump on it, grabbed it, took him home like a trophy, washed him and said, its finally time to have the meal I have been waiting patiently to prepare.

Although the recipe called for four squids, skin removed, cleaned but tentacles intact, I bought a couple extra.

My all important bulb of fennel, rosemary, pancetta and bottle of red wine, I was all ready to make magic.

Into the pan: chopped fennel, onions, pancetta and garlic

In a mixing bowl, fresh breadcrumbs, parsley, salt and pepper

Stuff the squid tubes with the breadcrumb mixture, but careful not to put too much in as the mixture expands when you cook it.
Heat a pan with olive oil and add to anchovy fillets to it allowing it to beak down completely.

Add the squid to the pan and allow it to brown evenly.

Once evenly browned add the tinned chunky tomatoes and the red wine to bubble around the quid for about 15 minutes before putting the entire thing in a slow-oven for about 45 minutes.

In all my excitement, once the dish was ready, I plated it up and served it to my friends and family forgetting one vital last thing. The final pretty picture of the presentation on the plate. Damn! I was waiting to see the expression on their faces, anticipating whether they would fall in love with the dish as I had when Cari had made it for me...

Spar Hypermarket,
# 39/4 & 44, Bannerghatta Road, Bangalore 560076,

Tel: 406 18512

On a roll

Amazed, baffled, shocked, ecstatic. Those four words wrap up the way I feel about my new found passion for literally cooking up a storm. Thank you so much to Jackie, Cari and Amy, my beloved Cordon Bleu inspirations. You have truly rubbed off on me, and for that I am so grateful!

Walnuts and Asparagus Spears drizzled with Olive Oil, baked crispy outside and tender within, served with Iceberg Lettuce and Sliced Pear.

Crepes filled with Broccoli and Creme Sauce

Ingredients
150g plain flour
200ml milk
100ml water
3 eggs
pinch salt and pepper
butter or olive oil, to fry

1. To make the crêpes, place all the ingredients, but just half the flour, in a mixing bowl and blend well before adding the rest of the flour and beating until smooth. Allow to stand for at least 15 minutes.

2. To cook the crepes, place a crêpe pan, or heavy bottomed frying pan, over a medium heat and lightly grease with butter or olive oil. Don’t allow the pan to get so hot it smokes. Lift the pan and pour in a little of the crêpe mixture, tilting and swirling until it just covers the base - don’t pour too much, thin crêpes are best.

3. Place the pan back on the heat and leave for a few minutes until the edges start to curl, then turn over and cook the other side for a few minutes. Place on a cooling rack. Repeat the same method with the rest of the batter until you have made 4 crêpes. Preheat the oven to 180°C.

4. To make the filling, trim and lightly steam or blanch the broccoli and refresh in cold water. Lightly toast the pine kernels and place in a blender with the basil, half the broccoli, garlic, cream, lemon juice and seasoning to taste. Take care with salt at this stage in case the cheese is salty. Blend to a course paste.

5. Roughly chop the remaining broccoli and finely slice the fennel; add to the cream mixture. Trim the asparagus into 8-10cm lengths, place on a baking tray, dot with butter and lightly grill, or cook in a griddle pan until tender. Heat the broccoli mixture in a pan, stirring until hot.

Sameer and I try our hand at baking our own pizza. The toppings we choose - out of this world, pepperoni, mushrooms, more salami and sausage!!! The base however is another story, and we can safely say we are still a long way from opening our own Pizza Shop!

One of the most delicious pasta recipes I have come across. Jaime Oliver you are truly a genius!
Spinach and Ricotta Spaghetti, flavoured with grated nutmeg. I added in some mushrooms and swapped the mascarpone for cream since you can't really find the Italian cream cheese here in India.

Creative Concoctions

Entertaining is always fun, especially when there's a twist to spice up the evening. So with and a pitcher or two of crazy cocktails we were set to go wild!

With crudites making the rounds and a platter of prawn sushi these were some of the other intesting appetisers I had on offer.

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This is my very own creation, I call it Apple Fairytail.

1 ltr Apple Juice

1 ltr Bacardi White Rum

2 shots of Captain Morgan Gold Spice Rum

2 shots Khahlua

2 Granny Smith Apples with skin, cored, sliced and then pureed

1 1/2 tbsp icing sugar

1 lrg ltbsp vanilla coffee liquor

Grated Nutmeg (1/4)

1 tbsp Cinnamon sugar

2 Star Anise

1 stick of cinnamon broken into two

Mix everything into a big bowl and then shake in a cocktail shaker in batches before straining and pouring out into a jug. Garnish with apple rings.

Beetroot Ravioli stuffed with Garlic Boursin and sprinkled with spring onion. Delish!

After slicing the beetroot paper thin, (or as bloody thin as you can get it without nicking yourself or lobbing off a finger - trust me it is harder than it sounds!) marinate the slices in olive oil with crushed pods of garlic, about 2 large beets to 5 cloves garlic, a good fresh crush of pepper and salt and refridgerate covered for atleast an hour. Later scoop in garlic boursin cream cheese, pin together with toothpicks and arrange tatefully on a plate with a sprinkling of spring onions to add for flavour and presentation! Perfect...

More of the same brilliant beetroot with a Mint Watermelon Cooler also another concotion that was a hit with the guests.
500 ml Gordon's Gin
1 1/2 ltr Chenin Blanc
A generous handful of mint leaves chopped
1 - 2 tsp of ginger finely chopped/ smashed
Juice of 2 whole limes
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
Two medium - large watermelons, flesh scooped, de-seeded and processed in a blender till juiced and then strained to ensure smoothness.
Mix in batches in a cocktail shaker before pouring into a jug. Serve with lots of ice cubes.

Creamy crostini with butter-garlic sauteed mushrooms with olive slices and roasted yellow and red bell peppers with capers.



Main course was Jaime Oliver's Summer Salad, simply spaghetti tossed in Extra Virgin Olive Oil, sliced cherry tomatoes, whole pitted olives, majoram and thyme! Yummy and so simple!
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My flopped version of Amy's Lemon Meringue Pie!

Christmas '08 Shennanigans

In true Yuletide tradition my mother has always prepared an entire smoked gammon leg as part of our Christmas dinner spread amongst an array of other gastronomical delights. Roast turkey with stuffing, suckling pig and at least two to three bakes and/ or casseroles as well as side dishes of roasted rosemary baby potatoes and green garden salad to go with it all. This year with my father's passing, all proceedings were toned down. Christmas was canceled according to me, the house was bare of decorations, there were no goodies - the customary rosa cookies, kull-kulls, guava cheese and coconut sweet to put on display and dole out to guests, and in fact there were no friends and family visiting! Come 22 December, my mum, sister and I jumped on a plane and headed for my Aunt Patricia's house in Pune to spend the festive season with her.

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In our suitcase, to savour the spirit of December was an entire 6 kg roll of gammon, packed ever so safely, ensuring the sanctity and core of Christmas tradition prevailed.

Some may be horrified at the idea of packing marinated, smoked meat in ones suitcase. At this point I must introduce the Bangalore Pork & Ham Shop, located on M.G. Road, that is popular throughout the country for its prime cuts of pork and bi-products as compared to what is available elsewhere
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Before we left for Pune we had our work cut out for us. Previous years my mother has always used a pineapple and beer marinade that infuses the smoked gammon, helping to tenderise the meat as it cooks further over the stove in a pressure cooker. This year we opted for navel oranges instead of pineapple.

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All the ingredients are laid out and ready, spices: cinnamon sticks, cloves, star anise, garlic, orange slices, stubbies of frothing beer, orange concentrate and gammon of course!

The gammon goes into a pot on the stove for an hour and a half simmering over medium flame with all the pictured ingredients and a whole litre of Tropicana Orange juice to moisten the meat.

Trixie is going crazy, excited by the heady meaty whiffs, hoping for a chunk of meat, a bone, anything!

After cooking on the stove top we transfer it to a pressure cooker to cook for two whistles. Ah, the Indian pressure cooker a device I still have not been able to fully understand.
Sameer puts my mother's skewers to alternative employment...

He role was pivotal in the cooking of this gammon leg!

Once it was cooked, we wrapped it in about one mile of cerran wrap, then a big absorbent towel, before packing carefully into our suitcase, ready for the flight to Pune.
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This is the gammon leg upon arrival in Pune, uncovered and the fat jacket layer, carefully sliced off with a good knife. We then cut diamonds into the remaining white fat layer and dotted it with cloves - picture perfect!

With all the heavy duty lifting out of the way, the 25 had rolled around the corner and it was time for presenting this baby. And you can only guess what comes next, glazing time! We opted for an Orange Glaze, using a recipe I foraged for over the internet. It made sense, was easy to follow and turned out to be fool-proof!

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1/2 c. orange juice,

1/4 c. light brown sugar,

1/4 c. orange marmalade,

2 tbsp. cider vinegar,
Combine all ingredients in small saucepan, mixing well. Bring to boil, stirring. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered 15 minutes, stirring.

We had to leave the glaze on the fire for longer than suggested in the recipe however to achieve a thicker, glossier glaze that would hold onto the meat steadfast.

Once the glaze was ready we wasted no time brushing it on to the surface of the gammon. You must remember you are dealing with a highly caramelised sugary syrup that is going to harden quickly, so paint it on efficiently but make like lightening.

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A word of caution, be careful of flinging the hot glaze at people around you or yourself. I managed to burn myself on my forefinger and fling some syrup at my mum in the process!

A labour of love
Penelope`, we did it !
Doing the honours of slicing the first few pieces for family at the Christmas table.

Several serving later, having relished the piggy meat, it was time to bring out the figgy pudding for some showmanship from my sister Maude and my mother.
First place the Marks & Spencer's plum pudding in a glass plate and spoon over a generous amount of brandy. Then using a steel ladle full of more brandy, Maude sets the liquor alight.

This is then carefully poured over the top of the pudding, so as the brandy runs down the pudding it is ignited by a burring bright blue flame that puts a big smile on everyone's face, kids and grown-ups included.

Served with a dollop of brandy butter, the pudding always goes down smoothly!

Bringing out the big guns

Being seperated from my boyfriend by one huge ocean and about a 17 hour flight for almost 9 months made Sameer's visit a very special one. And that called for an impressive menu.

Roast Bacon Wrapped Quail with Muscat Sauce for entrees and main course was to be Veal Shin on Mushroom Ragout.

I spent the afternoon picky the choiciest veggies and the best cuts of meat to cook with. My trusty friend and superb cook Cari helped of course!

Red and green peppers with swiss brown mushrooms for the ragout.

Sealing the osso bucco, infusing it with loads of rosemary sprigs.

I substituted a late harvest Verdelho I had picked up from the Olive Grove vineyard for the Port.

Sitting pretty in my palms, a quail ready to be stuffed with muscats and lemon quaters.

Having been stuffed it's time to roll the quails in baking before popping them in the oven.

End result: One happy couple!

I used a large brown siss mushroom to bolster the osso bucco into place alongside the ragout.Sameer dying to dig in once I'm done documenting our dinner! He has a hard life!