by Currylicious | Jul 19, 2017 | Nandini's Food Court
I was asked to make crab cakes during Cut throat Kitchen with Alton Brown on Food Network channel. I am raised a vegetarian and continue to be one so cooking meat or seafood is always a challenge since I do not get to taste my dish and its like cooking blind!
For people who followed me on Master Chef they know that I was asked to cook beef and I did although I refused to taste it. Gordon Ramsay said- ” Its cooked better than some people who cooked it who eat meat”
This simply means that I am blessed to use my finger to throw spices and get lucky with flavors and end up with a tasty dish.
I did exactly that at Cut Throat Kitchen too where I made the crab cakes for Alton but I always try to come up with a vegetarian version.
My quinoa zucchini crab cakes are super healthy and packed with flavor.
Here s the recipe:
Ingredients:
1 cup Quinoa
1 cup grated zucchini
1 small potato grated
1 small onion grated
1/2 jalapeno chopped finely
Spice blend- 1/2 tsp turmeric, lemon pepper powder and garlic powder, curry masala powder and dried fenugreek leaves
Salt to taste
1 teaspoon of all purpose flour
1 teaspoon of olive oil
Preparation:
- Grate zucchini and add some salt and let it sit for 10 minutes. After 10 min s squeeze all the water out.
- Then cook the potato and grate the potato
- Cook quinoa. For 1 cup of quinoa add 2 cups of water and let it cook.
- Take a bowl and add all the spices, dried fenugreek leaves and salt. Mix well.
- Then add grated zucchini, potato, onions, jalapeno and quinoa to the spice mix and mix it well with a spoon mashing everything well.
- Add 1 tsp of all purpose flour and mix it in.
- Make round patties with this mix.
- Place it on a cast iron skillet with olive oil for 2 min s on each side and flip to cook the patties well.
I usually make a mango chutney during the summer and it goes so well with my quinoa zucchini crab cake. You can use any chutney or dip with it.
by Currylicious | Jul 18, 2017 | CUT THROAT KITCHEN ON FOOD NETWORK
I am so excited to write a post again and talk about my experience filming for Cut Throat Kitchen in Hollywood Studios, LA. Alton Brown is my all time favorite and I am so excited to finally meet him and my fellow competitors in the show.
As you all know, Cut Throat Kitchen is not just a food show. It involves a lot of strategic moves and planning every move wisely so I dont get eliminated.
I will definitely say that it is going to be such a different experience than cut throat kitchen. I arrive in LA to film the episode :
http://www.foodnetwork.com/shows/cutthroat-kitchen/episodes/how-does-that-crab-ya#episode-tunein
As you all know I am a big Foodie and so trying to eat at one of the yummiest places and trying to relax before the show tomorrow. And not to forget, I had the chance to meet some great personalities like Mr Pen and Teller in this trip and to tour Hollywood studios.
I am so excited and nervous at the same time not knowing what I am getting into but trying my best to relax now so :
Please tune in tomorrow at 9 pm on Food Network to watch me on Cut Throat Kitchen with none other than my favorite Alton Brown!!!!
I will be posting in detail talking about my experience filming and being in the show so dont forget to tune back in to by blog again…
Until then…..loads of love from my kitchen to yours – please visit my blog tomorrow to get a recipe of my vegetarian version of crab cake which is delicious!!!!
by Currylicious | Jun 5, 2016 | Event Schedule, Nandini's Food Court
Hi everyone
Hope to see you all at Whole Foods in Montclair, NJ today from 11am to 3 pm for Ithaca Hummus Product Demo
by Currylicious | May 26, 2016 | BLOG
The Newcomers-Encore Club is a social club open to all residents of Short Hills and Millburn, no matter how long they’ve lived in the area. The Club organizes various fun events and activities through out the year for its members.
One of my good friends Neetu Salhotra approached me with an idea for offering a cooking class for the Newcomers group. I agreed and we both exchanged a few ideas and emails to come up with the following menu for the group.
- Quinoa with roasted Cauliflower, Cranberries and Walnuts
- Curried Brussel Sprouts with Paneer and Bell Pepper
- Lentil pudding
I printed recipe cards and handed it to everyone. There was a lovely group of 10 wonderfully enthusiastic people ready to whip up these dishes. I split them into groups of 2 and they were so good at following the recipe and carrying out their tasks like chopping/ cooking/ seasoning/ garnishing-that we finished the class right on time for all of them to taste the dishes that they cooked as a team.
It was interesting that they all had one thing in common to tell me that they learnt a few new ingredients that they used in the class-
- Freshly ground garam masala
- Fresh coriander seeds
- Fresh cardamom seeds for the pudding
- “Jaggery” for the pudding- it is a healthier substitute for sugar
- Dried Fenugreek leaves for brussel sprout dish
I think it is extremely gratifying to know that people have a nice take away from the class apart from learning to cook couple dishes -in this case- introduction to a set of new ingredients that they werent used to cooking with and now are willing to incorporate in their everyday cooking:)
I am very grateful to all of you and always appreciate the team effort that leads to such wonderful cooking experiences with beautiful people like you.
Stay tuned for more events coming up soon…..
by Currylicious | May 17, 2016 | BLOG
A few months back, one of my friends Christina Helms along with Sarah Bodnar opened this lovely chic yoga studio in Florham Park by the name of Three Birds Yoga Studio. Its an amazing space with a bunch of very good yoga instructors who teach classes for all age groups.
Christina wanted to host this awesome Indian themed cooking class to bring a few friends and employees together to express her appreciation. I came up with this Indian menu after exchanging ideas over a few emails.
Here goes:
For starters, we decided to make Dal which is a very healthy and nutritious stew made of yellow lentils slow cooked and simmered in onions and tomatoes along with “dal masala”. It serves as an excellent meal in itself by consuming a bowl of lentil soup or dal.
For the main course, Christina and her friends wanted to learn how to make Paneer Tikka Masala with Indian bread or naan. Paneer Tikka Masala is a dish which has Paneer cubes along with diced onions and bell peppers in an onion tomato gravy with fresh cumin, cilantro seeds and fenugreek leaves. If one masters the recipe to the sauce or gravy, then you can substitute Paneer with chicken or any meat and it is as delicious.
For the dessert, we made some caramelized bananas roasted golden brown in clarified butter and brown sugar and paired it with a scoop of ice cream.It was simple yet heavenly.
We had a tasting round after everyone helped and made every dish and it just got better with every round:)
Thanks much to a wonderful cheerful group that helped make some amazing dishes and it was so much fun. I always derive immense satisfaction from the overwhelming feedback that i received after the class- a lot of Christina s friends mentioned they want to host a similar class so looking forward to many more.
Stay tuned for more events coming up soon:)
