by Currylicious | Feb 10, 2016 | Nandini's Food Court, Recipes
When it gets cold during winter, I love to make hot soups from scratch at home for my family. One of my favorites is the fennel soup that i have already posted in my blog. The next one is Spinach Soup. I know a lot of you would not be excited about spinach 🙂
But my kids really like this soup since they dont see the actual spinach lol as its all mashed up and smooth.
So here goes the recipe:
Take about 1 cup of fresh leaves (de stemmed) thoroughly washed and throw it in a pot of salted boiling water for about 5 minutes. Then immediately transfer the cooked spinach onto a bowl of ice or ice cold water. This is called blanching and what does this is two things- 1) Helps to stop further cooking of the spinach and 2) Helps retain the bright green color of the spinach.
Cook 1/2 cup of lentils(yellow dal- Toor or Mung dal).
Blend the lentils with the blanched spinach in a blender.
I also add some Salt to taste, fresh ground black pepper, dried dessicated coconut powder toasted in a pan with few drops of oil along with cumin seeds and mustard seeds.
Enjoy this nutrition packed delicious green spinach soup.
by Currylicious | Feb 2, 2016 | Nandini's Food Court, Recipes
I am guilty of not having been able to get back on to blogging for quite sometime now for various reasons. But not anymore! Being creative with food and coming up with healthy yet delicious food is what I am good at so here s another taken on a burger. Its my baked Brussel Sprouts burgers or kebabs as well call it in India when you stack the veggies up or in a skewer.
Ingredients:
Brussel Sprouts – 6 of the small ones
Red Bell Pepper- 1 medium sized
Indian Cottage Cheese or Paneer chopped into cubes
(One can also substitute it with any firm cheese of their liking like mozarella)
Olive Oil
Salt to taste
Fenugreek leaves for garnish
Fresh coriander seeds ( or you can use coriander powder)
Preparation:
First step– preheat the oven to about 400 degrees.
Second step– Cut the brussel sprouts in half , chop up the red pepper also in triangles so it is stackable.
Chop up the Indian cottage cheese or paneer into cubes.
Third step– Place all the above chopped veggies on a baking pan.
Fourth step– Drizzle with Olive oil and season it with salt by sprinkling over the veggies in the baking pan.
Fifth step– Bake at 400 degrees for about 10 minutes or so and flip the veggies and bake for another 10 minutes.
You will see the nice char on the veggies and the brussel sprouts turn out to be nicely roasted in the oven.
There is nothing like munching on roasted Brussel sprouts for a snack. It tastes heavenly and delicious.
Sixth step– Once you take it out of the oven the garnish with some freshly crushed coriander seeds and fenugreek leaves. Now mix well.
I have used a white long plate to plate this dish and have used a red pepper paste that I made at home to add a bit of color to the base of the plate.
Place one half of the roasted brussel sprouts at the bottom, stack the cottage cheese on top, then the triangle of red pepper(i like for it to stick out a bit so the color pops) and lastly cover the top with the remaining half of the roasted brussel sprouts.
You can do as many as you please depending on the number of guests if you are entertaining or keep it small if its for a small family dinner at home.
I hope you will try this and let me know your feedback.
Enjoy this healthy yet delicious bite and I shall be back with more:)
by Currylicious | Apr 21, 2014 | Nandini's Food Court, Recipes
HEALTHY ROASTED FENNEL SOUP BY CURRYLICIOUSME
Recently I went to this restaurant which had some awesome Italian dishes of which their Roasted Fennel Soup blew me away! The soup was delicious and I made up my mind to recreate that dish excepting I did not want to use potatoes. The roasted fennel soup in the restaurant had potatoes which according to their Chef helps make the dish thicker in consistency and creamier.
I tried to recreate the same soup at home minus the potatoes 🙂 I would love to share this extremely delicious yet healthy dish with all of you today.
Ingredients
1 medium Fennel bulb with fronds
1 medium Onion4 garlic cloves
1 tsp lemon pepper powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp cayenne
2 tablespoon milk
1/4 cup vegetable broth
salt to taste
Preparation:
1) Take a baking pan and cover it with aluminum foil to avoid messy clean ups:) The first step is to chop the fennel bulb.
How to chop the fennel bulb?
Chop the fronds or the tiny spikey leaves off the fennel bulb. DO NOT THROW away the fronds as it is very flavorful and can be used as a pretty garnish for the soup.
Take off the outer layer or leaf from the fennel bulb and then cut in half. Similar to onions, fennel also have a core at the bottom that has to be removed carefully using a knife. I usually cut a V shape around the core and dice it out.
Now wash the rest of the fennel and chop evenly into small uniform pieces. Transfer the chopped fennel pieces to the baking pan covered with foil.
2) Dice a medium Onion evenly and transfer to the pan with chopped fennel pieces.
3) Chop garlic finely and transfer to the pan with chopped onion and fennel pieces.
4) Drizzle olive oil along with salt, cayenne, lemon pepper and garlic powder and toss to mix well.
5) Stick the baking pan in the oven at 360 F for about 45 minutes.
6) Once done, take it out of the oven, let cool and transfer to a food processor or blender.
7) Blend the pieces of baked and chopped fennel, onion and garlic along with vegetable broth.
8) Transfer the blended mixture to a pot and check seasoning and add 2 tablespoon of milk (to add creaminess to the texture) and wait till it boils.
9) Your roasted fennel soup is ready and you may garnish it with the fennel fronds.
Roasted Fennel Soup by Curryliciousme
Roasted Fennel Soup by Curryliciousme
by Currylicious | Mar 20, 2014 | Nandini's Food Court, Recipes
I love baby eggplants but in India we always removed the skin and cooked it to a point where it gets mushy and it would drive me
nuts when my mom would insist that i eat this mushy eggplant curry with my rotis/bread. I wanted to come up with an eggplant dish that I would rather enjoy to eat than be forced to eat:(
So here goes people!
This is by far my best take on the Mighty Eggplant! and takes you less than 15 minutes to prepare this. Its an awesome dish to consider if you have guests coming over.
Ingredients:
4-8 baby eggplants
Olive oil
Goat cheese crumbs
5-6 Basil leaves
Salt to taste
Black Pepper
Lemon pepper powder 1/4 teaspoon
Garlic powder 1/2 teaspoon
Finely chopped onions- 1/4 cup
Habanero Mango Salsa( I sometimes make this at home using habanero peppers and finely diced mango cubes with onions and tomatoes but you can always find and buy a bottle of any salsa at the supermarket if you do not want to deal with the heat of habanero peppers)
Note: You can substitute any salsa depending on your or the guest’s tolerance to spice levels. BUT I strongly recommend this combination:) Trust me its delish!!!if you can tolerate spice or heat!
Preparation:
Cut the baby eggplants in half and place them on a baking pan lined with parchment paper(for easy clean up). Then sprinkle salt, black pepper, lemon pepper and garlic powder on top of each half to make sure that they are well seasoned. Then drizzle some olive oil on top of each half and top it with some chopped onions, 1/4 teaspoon of the habanero mango salsa and garnish with some crumbs of goat cheese and chiffonades of basil.
Stick this into the oven at 350 degrees F for about 20-30 minutes. Voila! I insist on a particular combination of salsa and cheese for this particular recipe since the habanero (heat) and the mango (sweet) in the salsa cuts the tanginess of the goat cheese and the flavors become so well balanced.
by Currylicious | Mar 11, 2014 | Nandini's Food Court, Recipes
This is my take on a French dish inspired by Jaques Pepin the legendary French Chef whom I respect and admire a lot. I have been wanting to make this dish for quite some time now and finally found the time and a great recipe for a mouth watering carrot puree.
So here goes:
Ingredients:
For Carrot & Potato Puree:
- 2 pounds boiling potatoes, peeled and cut into 2-inch pieces
- 1 pound carrots, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1 teaspoon mayonnaise
- 1 teaspoon melted butter/ olive oil
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon curry powder
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
For poached egg:
- 1 egg
- 2 teaspoons white vinegar
- small bowl
- salt to taste
1/2 slice of Brioche bun toasted in olive oil or butter
Preparation of Potato Carrot Puree:
Add the chopped carrots and potatoes in a pot of salted boiling water and cook for about 30 minutes till they turn soft. Then transfer the cooked carrots and potatoes to a food processor. Add mayonnaise, salt, turmeric, ground cumin, garlic powder, curry powder and freshly ground black pepper. Drizzle olive oil or butter and process for 20- 30 seconds until creamy.
Preparation of Poached Egg:
First bring water in a saucepan to almost boiling. If the water is already boiling, lower the heat until it is no longer boiling. At this point, you can add one or two teaspoons of vinegar to the water, if you want. The vinegar will help the egg whites to come together more easily.
Crack an egg into a small cup, then place the cup near the surface of the hot water and gently slide the egg into the water. With a spoon, nudge the egg whites closer to their yolks. This will help the egg whites hold together.
Turn off the heat. Cover. Let sit for 4 minutes, until the egg whites are cooked.
Lift eggs out of pan with a slotted spoon.
Plating:
Take a plate and using a spoon place the carrot potato puree in the middle and spread to form a circle. Then place the poached egg on top of the carrot potato puree and the toasted brioche bun on top with some cilantro as garnish.
