No posts for a bit...

I haven't posted in weeks and likely won't be posting till the new year. I've been busy working on my thesis. So for ppl that actually check on this blog from time to time (thanks for all the support!) no new posts in the next few weeks guys, sorry about that!
Take care and happy holidays!

Rogan Ghosh

Haven't posted for ages, been really busy working on my thesis. Almost can't stand to look at work related stuff anymore.. So here's what I made tonight: Rogan Ghosh roughly translated as red lamb. Its not actually spicy (well this one isn't!) the colour comes from Kashmiri chillies.

So here's the recipie for the authentic stuff:

Roughly slice two little onions (pink/red ones always!) and 8 fat garlic cloves. Heat enough oil in a pot to put in
1 cinnamon stick
2 kashmiri chillies
4 cloves
4 green cardamoms
2 little black cardamoms
a small pinch of asafoetida (this is ground up tree gum of some sort)
1 (indian) bay leaf (yes it is different from the western variety)

Fry till the onions become transluscent, toss in 300g or so of lamb/ mutton fry till the meat changes colour. Add 1 teaspoon of ground fennel and a teaspoon of dried ground ginger. Grate in some black pepper and add a few pinches white pepper as well. Mix well add salt as required add a roughly chopped tomato (and some sun dried tomato paste if you want it more tangy) cover and simmer till cooked :D yum

Masala Bhaat!

Augh! Gotta stop using the dark coloured plates they show fingerprints!!! :(

Maharashtrian food tonight! (Maharashtra is the state Bombay's in)

Bhaat is Marathi for rice. I'll try to post the recipies as and when I have time. So here goes tonight's:

Heat some olive oil add a tsp of mustard seeds, a dozen currey leaves and 2 Kashmiri chillies.
Toss in a couple of chopped potatoes, fry around, add a fourth tsp turmeric, a half a cube of (MSG-free) chicken stock, stir add some garam masala and a bit of chilli powder as per your taste ( I use Biryani masala powder from Ambari Suhana - www.pravinmasalewale.com). Grate in an inch of ginger, add the rice, stir well, add water and cook as usual. That biryani masala is really delicious (my granny sent me some from India).

Vindaloo and Aloo Saagwaala

Vindaloo is pork based Goanese dish cooked in vinegar (no water, no tomatoes, no yogurt). Aloo saagwaala is potatoes cooked with spinach.

Mark's special chicken curry

This is absolutely the best thing that has Ever been cooked in this house! <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

: 3 Gotta go eat now!!!

Pasta with spinach last night!

I was too sleepy to post last night, after dinner I went straight to bed! So here's last night's dinner (the night before's dinner didn't photograph too well and since I'm approaching my Flickr quota for the month I thought I'd omit it!).



Shells with garlic, sun dried tomatoes, tuna, and spinach! Hmmmm spinach... love spinach!!

Kashmiri night!

Its Saturday so I've had a bit more time to cook. Decided to cook Kashmiri food tonight. The stuff in the cooker is Dum Mahi, a slow cooked fish, Kashmiri style (the colour is from the Kashmiri chillies). Dum implies that the food has been slow cooked in a closed vessel (often in an oven) simmering in its own juices for a very long time (there were curries made in antiquity that were simmered like that over NINE days! Wonder what they did while waiting for that to cook... prolly pillaging the nearby communites for a week or so and then riding back in time for dinner! heheh).

The stuff in the saucepan is Hedder another Kashmiri dish made out of mushrooms. Chop 4-5 large cloves of garlic finely, toss into hot olive oil in a pan. Stir fry and add a finely chopped pink onion (pink/ red onion NOT white!) and stir fry till the onion bits start going transparent. Then toss is 250g or so of quartered mushrooms. Stir fry, grate in black pepper, salt and chilly powder (as according to taste; I've added a Kashmiri chilli for colour) then add a cup of milk and allow to simmer. For a thicker sauce add a tablespoon of flour and stirfry for a bit before adding the milk. Consume immediately.

The rice is just regular indian basmati rice (Indian Basmati and Australian? Doongra rice are the best you can get, not sure exactly where the latter's from...) just add a few pinches of turmeric into the water you cook it in.

Rice again!

Forgot to buy pasta today so its rice again tonight!!

Wonder who won this week's illustration friday contest, I think it is Friday there now....

Risotto!

My pressure cooker! Nazar na lagay!


Star of all my imaginary cooking shows ; D
I am so happy I have this. Its a Futura from Hawkins. I brought it from home. It is SO cool! Potatoes boil in a few minutes, meat cooks in about 8 minutes, rice in 5... Its really a big saving on cooking gas!
I LOVE MY PRESSURE COOKER!!! <3



Cooked in the pressure cooker above. I fried Italian herb sausage in olive oil, added roughly chopped garlic, fried it for a bit, added two little pink/red onions chopped fine, a small sprig of rosemary, two kashmiri chillies, a quill of cinnamon, fried it a bit more, added some roughly chopped coriander and mint and a few chives. Added washed rice fried it around and added enough tomato puree to almost cover the rice, and topped it up with chicken stock. You can use the commercial stock cubes BUT make sure they're MSG-free (MSG/Monosodium glutamate/Ajinomoto powder has been scientifically proven to significantly decrease mental development in children plus it makes some people's hair fall out... ). Then I closed the pressure cooker and left it on V. low heat for about 8 minutes. Sauteed some mushrooms in garlic butter and threw 'em in right at the end along with coriander and mint.
In hindsight I probably shouldn't have added the chives; cant stand that smell. It was good tho'!
You can add tomato based pasta sauce instead of puree. Leggo (NZ) is pretty good.

Dinner overload! Hariyali Murgh and Chicken biriyani

Had Hariyali murgh last night but my camera died just as I was taking the photo so I had to juice it up before I could post. Unfortunately I fell asleep before I could post! So without further ado, here is, Last night's dinner:



Hariyali means greenery (as in spring's verdant). Its a standard tomato based curry but with a cup of mint leaves and a handful of coriander roughly chopped and tossed in. That's mixed pickle on the side (commercially available at Asian stores) not too spicy and you get your vitamin C requirement! To make yellow rice add a few pinches of turmeric and mix in before cooking.
I ought to have tossed in the greens last; the hariyali doesn't seem verdant enough!


Tonight's dinner



Chicken biriyani with mixed salad (olive oil, mustard, forest honey, and lemon for dressing) and vanilla yogurt (with a dash of greek forest honey) on the side.

Lal Maas and Sweet Raita

Laal Maas

Translates as 'red meat' red being the colour the chillies impart. I use Kashmiri chillies instead of the ordinary ones; they're milder and impart colour rather than flavour. I've used lamb and potatoes for this dish.

Sweet Raita


Raita is a yogurt based accompaniment to hot Indian curries. Yogurt (and other milk products but yogurt's the best) contains casein, a protein which neutralizes capsaicin (that's what makes chillies HOT). So its a good idea to serve a yogurt based side along with hot curries. This one's made of greek style yogurt with greek forest honey and brown raisins.

Macchi pahalgami!!

Dory (fish!) in a creamy (non fat) sauce with Roti on the side. That chilli is a Kashmiri chilli. It imparts colour without too much heat. Roti is a flat indian bread made of whole wheat flour. This is more of a chappati though i.e. thinner and lighter.