PUMPKIN PIE

I don’t really have a sweet tooth and I haven’t had much of an opinion about the pumpkin either. So it must have been quite a strange coincidence that among a plethora of dessert options I picked up the pumpkin pie at a recent office lunch, let alone the fact that I picked up a dessert in the first place. I have heard a lot about the pumpkin pie and its rich and old tradition and history though that did not have any bearing on my decision. Anyways surprise surprise: I really liked it. It had a very unique and distinct taste that kindled my senses.

Now this led to 2 things: I wanted to know more about its history and I wanted to make it on my own. The first one was quite easy. I was able to dig up quite a few articles that provided lots of information about its origins and its entry into popular American culture. So here’s a concerted effort to succinctly present (not bore) you with a brief peek into the life and times of Mr. Pumpkin Pie.

The Pumpkin Pie Culture: The pumpkin has been native to the continent of North America for a long long time. Northeastern Native American tribes grew squash and pumpkins and roasted or boiled them for eating. Historians think that the early American settlers from Europe (in southern New England) were not very impressed by the Indians’ squash and/or pumpkins until they had to survive their first harsh winter when about half of the settlers died from scurvy and exposure. The Native Americans brought pumpkins as gifts to the first settlers, and taught them the many uses for the pumpkin. This is what developed into pumpkin pie about 50 years after the first Thanksgiving in America. And since then the pumpkin and pumpkin pie have been an integral part of Thanksgiving, Haloween and Christmas in America.

Now to the not so easy part! I love cooking and have made many Indian sweets as well before but haven’t done much of baking. (Cakes, pies, cookies etc...) Reason being I have had the company of some wonderful friends who make excellently delicious cakes; so I never ventured into that zone. But nevertheless, making pumpkin pie turned out to be an exciting and delicious affair. So before you start cursing me I will give you my methodology (note that there is nothing really original here as you can find this recipe with slight variations in many places in the web). But I am trying to give you one of the easier ways to do it.

Ingredients:

v      2 cups canned pumpkin, mashed or 2 cups of pumpkin pulp puree from a sugar pumpkin

v      1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened

v      1/2 cup brown sugar

v      1/3 cup white sugar

v      1/4 teaspoon salt

v      1 egg plus 2 egg yolks, slightly beaten

v      1/2 cup half-and-half

v      1/4 cup melted butter

v      1 teaspoon vanilla extract

v      1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

v      1/4 teaspoon ground ginger, optional

v      1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

v      1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

v      1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom

v      1 piece pre-made pie dough

v      Whipped cream, for topping

v      Ready made Pie crust

The pie shell (or crust) is a very important part and adds a lot to the taste. You can either make it from scratch or get a ready-made one. I went for the easier option. If you are perfectionist, you can go for the other option too.

The Recipe:

ü       Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

ü       Take the cream cheese in a large bowl and beat it well (a hand mixer would come in handy).

ü       Now add the pumpkin and beat them nicely together until they mix well.

ü       Now mix the sugars, salt and spices and continue the beating.

ü       Add the eggs mixed with the yolks, half-and-half, melted butter and the vanilla extract and beat well for one last time.

ü       Now pour the filling into the ready-made (or self made) pie crust and bake it in the oven for about 50-60 minutes until the center is set.

That is it. Your delicious pumpkin pie should be ready and hopefully edible. Help yourself (and others) generously. The whipped cream goes well with it too.

See you next time. Pie Pie!!

SPICY MUTTER PANEER

This weekend, I was in the mood for a lavish meal but somehow wasn’t in the mood to experiment. Quite uncharacteristic I know. I decided to go with the tried and tested Mutter Paneer. I have made this quite often and have refined my recipe over time by adding a few touches of my own. When you make it yourself, you will like the uniqueness of this recipe. Oookayy… Let’s get started!

Ingredients:

v      Fresh Paneer (Cottage cheese) – 1 pack (approx 400 gms)

v      Green peas (boiled) – 1 cup

v      Onions - 2

v      Tomatoes – 3

v      Green chillies – 2

v      Garlic – 3 small pieces

v      Cumin seeds – 1 tsp

v      Fennel seeds – 1 tsp

v      Cinnamon – 1 stick

v      Cloves – 5

v      Cardamom – 3

v      Cashews – 10 to 15

v      Garam masala – 1-2 tsp

v      Chili powder – 1-2 tsp

v      Coriander powder – 1-2 tsp

v      Yogurt (Curd) – 1 cup

v      Oil and ghee

v      Salt as required

Paneer Preparation:

This is a very important step which I do a little differently from most other Paneer versions you would find. I feel that this gives Paneer a distinct flavor. So give it a try.

ü       Cut the paneer into small cubes.

ü       Heat oil in a pan and deep fry the paneer in a mild flame. Turn it around to ensure it gets fried on all surfaces.

ü       Take a bowl of curd and add a tsp of chili powder, garam masala and salt.

ü       Now soak the fried paneer in this mix for about half an hour. This gives a nice spice to the paneer.

Special Spicy Masala:

In addition to garam masala, I make a spicy masala that adds to the taste. So if you are in the mood for some finesse, go for this one. Grind the cumin seeds, fennel seeds, cardamom, cinnamon and cloves to a fine powder.

Gravy Paste:

This is the penultimate step in your cooking expedition. Hang on there!

ü       Heat oil in a pan and fry green chilies, garlic and cashews for half a minute and then keep them separately

ü       Now add the onions and fry them till they turn golden brown

ü       Finally add tomatoes and fry them for about 2-3 minutes

ü       Now let it cool for a while

ü       Then grind all of the above into a fine paste

The final Act:

You are almost there. Hold your taste buds (and of course your stomach) for a few more minutes.

ü       Heat a pan and add a small tsp of ghee.

ü       Now add the gravy paste and sauté it for a minute.

ü       Now add the ground spicy masala powder, chilli powder, coriander powder and salt and continue the sauté for another 2 minutes.

ü       Then add the paneer (soaked in curd) and boiled peas.

ü       Now cook for about 5 minutes in a mild flame until the flavor gets into the paneer.

ü       If you are very hungry you can sneak some paneer into your stomach while you are cooking (tasting is always a good excuse).

ü       That’s it. Mutter Paneer Masala is ready.

ü       Now garnish it with coriander and serve with hot rotis.

Enjoy spicy and tasty paneer. A good and relatively easy experiment to carry out on a weekend. Try it and you will be pleasantly surprised!

DUM MAARO DUM

Before you let your imagination run wild and speculate about my premise here, let me clear the air. Well, this has nothing to do with the timeless classic featuring Zeenat Amman – Asha Bhosle. There is nothing in it for tobacco aficionados either. And certainly it has nothing to do with the forgettable Abhishek Bachchan starrer that sunk without a trace in the box office.

This is an excerpt from one of my lazy afternoon cooking endeavors. Ladies and Gentlemen: Welcome to Raj’s kitchen again! I have heard a lot about Dum Aloo but I had never taken a stab at it. So I dragged myself out of boredom into the kitchen to something more worthwhile. It wasn’t that difficult and didn’t take too much time. And more importantly didn’t taste bad either! Well.. so without any further ado, let me introduce you to Mr.Dum!

Ingredients:

v      Baby Potatoes – 10

v      Onion (finely chopped) - 1

v      Green Chilies – 2

v      Yogurt – ¼ cup

v      Red chilli powder  (ask your taste buds for quantity)

v      Coriander powder - a pinch

v      Turmeric powder - a pinch

v      Garam Masala (ask your taste buds for quantity)

v      Salt (ask your taste buds for quantity)

v      Coriander and lime to garnish

Grind the following into a Paste:

v      Onion – 1

v      Dry red chillies - 2

v      Garlic – 5 flakes

v      Ginger – a pinch

v      Cumin Seeds – 1 tsp

v      Coriander Seeds – 1 tsp

v      2 small tomatoes

v      Cashews (Cashews are my secret ingredient here and they give a unique flavor to the paste)

Aloo Pre-Preparation:

ü       Mildly Boil the baby potatoes (don’t over cook it though)

ü       Prick them all over with a fork (don’t feel shy; just go for it)

ü       Heat oil in a pan and deep fry the potatoes by adding a pinch of salt, turmeric powder and chilli powder. Take them out when they are golden brown.

ü       Now in a cup add a bit of curd, add a tsp each of coriander powder and garam masala powder and mix well

ü       Now soak the fried baby potatoes in this mix for half an hour. This gives a very nice flavor to the potatoes

Dum Aloo Preparation:

ü       Heat oil in a pan and fry the onions until they are golden brown; Add the green chilies too

ü       Now add the ground paste and keep stirring at a low-medium flame for 5 minutes

ü       Make sure the raw smell of the paste goes away

ü       Now add the soaked baby potatoes and sprinkle some Garam Masala (or any other special secret masala you have) and let it simmer for 5 – 10 minutes.

ü       Wait until the masalas have covered the potatoes well

ü       Then garnish with coriander leaves. Add some lime juice if you want to.

ü       Yum Dum Aloo is ready.

So.. if your taste buds are itching, go and try it for yourself. I am sure you will like it!Slurp! Slurp!!

DELICIOUS THAI VEGETARIAN GREEN CURRY

I love cooking and more often than not, something edible comes out of it. I tried making Thai Green curry the other day and it turned out pretty good. It was actually an experiment of a stir fry combined into a green curry. Here is the recipe for any takers. Guess this picture will help to ignite your taste buds!

INGREDIENTS:

ü  2 cans coconut milk

ü  1 small onion

ü  3 green chilies

ü  Red, green and yellow peppers – 1 cup

ü  Vegetables: Broccoli, cauliflower, eggplant, zucchini, shitake mushrooms, bamboo shoots, beans, carrots and peas – 2 cups

ü  3 cloves garlic and a thumb size of ginger (very finely chopped)

ü  Fresh basil leaves – ½ cup

ü  Fresh tofu – 1.5 cups

ü  Thai green curry paste – 2 to 4 tsp depending the spice quotient of your tongue

ü  Olive oil -  3 tsp

ü  Soy sauce and chili garlic sauce

Stir fry:

v  Heat oil in a frying pan. Add the onions, peppers, green chilies and basil leaves and sauté for a few minutes.

v  After that add all the vegetables and stir fry them for 5-10 minutes with soy sauce and chili garlic sauce.

Preparing tofu:

v  Cut the tofu into small cubes and shallow fry it in oil.

v  In a bowl, take half a cup of coconut milk and add soy sauce and chili garlic sauce and mix well. Soak the fried tofu in this mixture for 10 minutes.

v  This gives a good taste and flavor to the tofu.

Thai Green Curry:

v  Once you are done with the stir fry and the tofu, it is time for the finale.

v  Heat oil in a wok and add the green curry paste (2 – 4 spoons depending on how strong your palette is) and fry for a minute until you get a good fragrance.

v  Now add the remaining coconut milk to the wok and allow it to simmer for around 5 minutes. Adding basil leaves here will give you more fragrance.

v  Now add the soaked fried tofu to this mix and allow it to simmer for a couple more minutes.

v  Finally add the stir fried vegetables and cook it for some more time.

v  Check for salt and spice and adjust with more Thai green curry paste, salt, soy sauce or coconut milk until you get the desired taste.

v  That is it and yummy green curry is ready. Serve it with hot Thai jasmine rice.

And do let me know if it turns out well and more importantly do not curse me if it is not edible. I am sure you will do well.