Restaurant Review : Kasa

Excellent katti rolls, easily the best in the San Francisco Bay Area. Tried the ‘karahi paneer’ and ‘gobi’ rolls, both of them yummy! The roti for the rolls was soft, the paneer and gobi both very flavourful. They have an option to add egg to the roti for an ‘unda roll’. I no longer long for Nizam’s. 

 

Roasted Root Vegetables

I have tried this recipe from Jamie Oliver with great success.

http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/vegetarian-recipes/roast-vegetable-megamix

I season the carrots as described in this recipe. I’ve used coriander in place of thyme as well and it tasted great.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/jamie-at-home/roast-carrot-and-avocado-salad-with-orange-and-lemon-dressing-recipe/index.html

 

Almond Cake

I recently came across a recipe for an almond cake, which turned out to be the best almond cake I’ve eaten. A cake that started out light and dense with the flavour of almond and over two days developed into what tasted like marzipan in a cake. The surprise though, was a hint of saltiness that lingered on the palate with each bite. My breakfast for two days was a generous slice of almond cake with an espresso. Ah, what a joyous way to start the day! 

The recipe is from David Lebovitz [http://www.davidlebovitz.com/], who has a very interesting blog and whose book ‘ A Sweet Life In Paris’ is next on my reading list. 

Recipe : http://www.davidlebovitz.com/2010/06/almond-cake-recipe/

Notes : 

• I used Odense almond paste. (bought it at Safeway)
• I baked the cake in a 9 inch circular pan with sides  3 inches high.

 

Marinara

We recently saw a TV program featuring Anthony Bourdain, where a couple of chefs demonstrated some simple recipes. One of these was a marinara sauce where the tomatoes were cooked with oil flavoured with basil and garlic. This method was pretty new to us, so we tried it and were amazed at the results. Every spoon of the marinara had a subtle note of the basil and garlic, ever present but never once in the foreground or overpowering.

Ingredients

• 5 medium sized tomatoes
• 5 pods garlic, finely chopped
• A small bunch of basil leaves (approximately 25-30 leaves)
• 5 tbsp olive oil

1. Blanch the tomatoes in boiling water until the skin starts coming off.
2. Heat the olive oil on low heat, add the chopped garlic and whole basil leaves and continue to heat until all the basil leaves have wilted.
3. Once the tomatoes are blanched, peel the skin and add the tomatoes to a cooking pot. You can either rough chop the tomatoes before you add it to the pot or break the tomatoes up into chunks using a spoon in the pot.  Add the olive oil with garlic and basil.  Cook on low heat for around 20 mins.

Onion Pakoda

A rainy Sunday morning and afternoon, presented the perfect setting for tea and onion pakodas. I searched and found a couple of recipes online, before settling on this recipe from ‘Sumi’s Blog‘. I made a couple of minor modifications and was pleasantly surprised with how simple it was to make crisp onion pakodas.

Ingredients

• 1 large purple onion, cut into 1/2 inch strips
• 1 tbsp finely chopped coriander
• 1 tbsp finely chopped dill [since I had it at home]
• 1 tsp red chilli powder
• 1/8 tsp cumin (jeera) seeds
• 1/8 tsp fennel (saunf) seeds
• 1/2 cup chickpea (besan) flour
• 1/2 cup rice flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp hot oil to mix the batter
• 1/4 cup water to mix the batter
• Oil for frying

1. Combine all the ingredients except, the oil and water in a bowl.
2. Add hot oil to the above mixture and mix in.
3. Slowly add water to the above mixture and mix until you can make small balls of the mixture without it falling apart. The mixture should however not be soggy. [Note : I did not have the patience to mix small amounts with water as listed in the original recipe but this method turned out alright.]
4. Heat the oil for frying. Make small balls of the mixture and fry.

Note : Serves 2.

I was so happy with the outcome of this recipe, my previous attempts having not resulted in such crisp and tasty fritters, that I ate them before I could think of taking a photograph.

Flan

Our Sunday night vegetable dum biryani meal was topped off with a flan as dessert.

We followed this recipe and loved the result.  http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Vanilla-Bean-Flan-102956

Flan, need to work on the caramel.

Vegetable Dum Biryani

I tried out this recipe for Chicken Dum Biryani using potato and fried tofu instead of the chicken. The result was an excellent, flavourful biryani, where every layer of the biryani brought along it’s own distinct taste and interplayed harmoniously with the rest.

Recipe : http://radhiskitchen-radhi.blogspot.com/2006/08/hyderabadi-dum-biryani-khubani-ka.html

I used 2 medium sized potatoes and approximately 200gm firm tofu, which I lightly fried before marinating.

I didn’t have mace, so skipped that in the spice mix.

Spice Mix

Marinating potatoes and tofu

Biryani!

Heirloom Tomatoes

Summer is most definitely the best season at the Farmer’s Market. The stalls are packed with vegetables and fruits, the vegetables look bigger than earlier in the year, lots of berries, followed by the peaches and plums and then there are two of our favourites, heirloom tomatoes and basil!

Each tomato tastes different, some sweet, some slightly acidic, but all bursting with flavour. This is our favourite way to eat them, chopped, tossed with some olive oil, fresh basil and kosher salt.

Wikipedia on Heirloom Tomato : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heirloom_tomato

Beatty’s Chocolate Cake

I’ve been looking for a chocolate cake recipe, which makes a moist, yet light cake. I’m happy to announce that I’ve finally found the perfect recipe.

This is Ina Garten’s buttermilk chocolate cake recipe, I think both the buttermilk and coffee contribute to the moistness. http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/beattys-chocolate-cake-recipe/index.html

The end result.

Spinach Dal

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup masoor dal [Toor dal or Moong dal]
• 2 cups chopped spinach
• 1 finely chopped onion
• 4 finely chopped garlic cloves
• 5 finely chopped green chillies
• 2  chopped tomatoes (small tomatoes)
• Seasoning : 4 red chillies, 1/2 tsp mustard seeds, 1/2 tsp jeera seeds

Preparation

1. Pressure cook all ingredients, except the seasoning together.  [I use an electric cooker, I add 2 cups water and pressure cook on high for 8 mins.]
2. Heat 1 tsp oil, add the seasoning when the oil is hot and fry for a minute.
3. Add the seasoning to the cooked dal and mix.