Green Chutney – The Versatile Coconut-Cilantro-Mint Combination!

Yes, occasionally, I go back to posting basic recipes for people who are newbies in the kitchen. This is one such recipe. This green chutney works beautifully for sandwiches, for Parsi delicacies like Patra ni Machhi and Patra ni Kolmi and yes, you can also use it as a marinade-gravy base for meats. I usually make a 2-bottle batch and use it as and when I need it. It keeps beautifully in the fridge for a week to ten days and because of the added acidity, the colour remains a beautiful green. Go on, give it a try. 😊

Ingredients:

1 whole (medium-sized) fresh coconut, break, remove from shell and cut into slivers

1 cup (tightly filled) coriander leaves, washed

1 cup (tightly filled) mint leaves, washed

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

15 - 18 large cloves of garlic, peeled and washed (increase the quantity if the garlic cloves are small)

12 to 14 green chilies, break into 1-inch pieces

Juice of 2 to 3 limes, to taste

Salt, to taste

Sugar, to taste

Method:

1.    Combine coconut sliver, coriander leaves, mint leaves, green chilies, garlic cloves and cumin seeds, juice of 1 or 1½ limes (only), salt and sugar in a grinder. Add quarter cup water and give it a good whiz. Grind the chutney to a smooth thick consistency.

2.    Open the grinder to check the consistency of the chutney, add more water only if needed and give it yet another whiz.

3.    Check seasoning and acidity levels and adjust lime juice, salt, and sugar as/if needed. If added, give the chutney one more whiz to ensure the added ingredients are well incorporated into the chutney.

4.    Remove the chutney into clean, sterilized, airtight bottles or any airtight fridge container.

5.    Allow the chutney to cool to room temperature; do not put it in the fridge until cool.

Chef Notes:

1.    The quantity of lime juice, salt and sugar depends entirely on your palate. I do suggest you add these three ingredients a little at a time and keeping adding more, as needed. The thing to always remember when cooking anything is, you can always add more as needed, but once added, reducing the excess is difficult and, in some instances, impossible.

2.    I used 12 to 14 medium sized dark green chilies, the ones that are quite high on the heat quotient. If you choose to use the long, light green, not-so-spicy variety, please adjust the quantity according. Here too, the same rule applies. Add fewer chilies if you are unsure, taste as you grind, add more as/if needed and give the chutney a good whiz.

3.    When raw mangoes are in season feel free to substitute them in place of lime juice.

4.    There’s one more use for this versatile baby (read: chutney). Whisk in some smoothened yogurt to a bowlful of this chutney as serve it as a dip with tandoori chicken and tikkas. Oh yeah, it works!

5.    You may share the direct blog-link of the recipe/s but do NOT publish my recipes, and/or my photographs, on any blogsite or website without my explicit consent or attempt to pass off my recipe/s as your own. You will be held accountable for plagiarism.

Some more photographs: 

Coriander Mint Yogurt Chutney

Coriander Mint Yogurt Chutney

Once again, it's time for a basic recipe. When as a newbie you wander into the kitchen wondering how to make chutney, begin with this simple one. Restaurants serving Italian or Continental cuisine set a bread basket at the table before the main course; similarly, Indian restaurants serve papadums. One of my favorite things to eat at an Indian restaurant before the main course is this chutney slathered over plain, crisp papadum. This is versatile chutney and goes beautifully with simple stuff like batata wadas and also with exotic stuff like tikkas. And yes, for crazy souls like me, slathered on papadums. ;) 

Ingredients:

1 cup mint

½ cup coriander

1 green chili

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

5-6 cloves garlic

1 inch piece fresh coconut, chopped into tiny bits

Salt, to taste

Sugar, to taste

Lime juice, to taste

4-6 teaspoons yogurt, smoothened

Method:

1. Grind mint, coriander, green chilies, cumin seeds, garlic and coconut to a fine paste. Use water only if you need it and if you do please use as little as possible.
2. Add salt, sugar and lime juice to taste. Give it one more whiz in the grinder.
3. Check for balance of flavor (spicy with a dash of sweet and sour). Adjust salt, sugar and lime juice accordingly. Remove in a bowl.
4. Just before serving add smoothened yogurt and mix it well to incorporate it into the chutney.
5. Serve with hot pan fried chicken drumsticks or slathered over pau (bread) with batata wada or chicken tikkas and more…..
   
    

Chef Notes:

1. If fresh coconut isn’t available in your pantry you can substitute coconut with a few peanuts. It will change the taste of the chutney but the combination of peanuts with mint and coriander does work.
2. Increase the quantity of green chilies to two if you prefer spicier chutney.
3. Please make sure you incorporate the smoothened yogurt really well into the chutney.
4. This was a recipe made many moons ago. Please forgive the quality of the photograph. It’s an old photograph of the time when I’d just begun blogging. I would at the time take these silly bird-eye view clicks. I’d never click a photograph in this way now but in those days, I did. I had it in the archives of my comp hence posted it.
5. You may share the direct blog-link of the recipe/s but do NOT publish my recipes and my photographs on any blog-site or website without my explicit consent or attempt to pass off my recipe/s as your own. You will be held accountable for plagiarism. 

Crème Fraîche

Crème Fraîche

Crème Fraîche, is an expensive product when found in stores in India, that is, if you are lucky enough to find it. I don’t see the need to spend ridiculous amounts of money on a product that is so easy to make. Here’s the simplest way to make perfect Crème Fraîche in your own kitchen. Yes, once again, a basic recipe from Kenzy's Kitchen Korner to make life easier for you in the kitchen. Go for it!

Ingredients:

300 mils whipping cream

3 tablespoon fresh thick yogurt or buttermilk

Method:

1. Stir the whipping cream to smoothen it a wee bit and heat it for a couple of minutes till lukewarm (about 40 deg C). Do not overheat it.
2. Take it off the hob and transfer the cream into a glass bowl.
3. Add in the yogurt (or buttermilk). Give it a good stir.
   
   
   
   
4. Cover it loosely with a cling film and allow it to rest for 24 to 48 hours at room temperature (approx 70-75 degrees F / 21-24 degrees C). 
5. Give the whipping cream a very light stir after 24 hours to check the consistency.
   
   
   
6. Uncover it and run a spoon or a whisk through it. It will have thickened considerably.
   
   
   
7. When you lift Crème Fraîche on a spoon it will fall off the spoon in blobs and that will indicate that it's ready to be refrigerated. Refrigerate!
   
    

Chef Notes: 

1. Whipping cream is cream that has 35-40% butterfat content.
2. The taste of Crème Fraîche is tangy. If you want it tangier, leave it covered for a few more hours and then refrigerate.
3. The process of making Crème Fraîche will depend on the climate of the place you live in. The process usually takes 24 to 30 hours in summer but takes longer in the colder months. In winter you may have to keep the cream covered for 72 hours for it to reach the correct consistency. 
4. Give the whipping cream a very light stir every 24 hours to check the consistency. Once it reaches the correct consistency cover with cling film and store in the fridge.
5. Crème Fraîche keeps in the fridge for 7-9 days.
6. Please do not use stale, sour yogurt or buttermilk to make Crème Fraîche.
7. When you refrigerate the Crème Fraîche, the flavor will get tangier.
8. The taste of the Crème Fraîche is tangier than that of sour cream.
9. You can use it as a spread between crepes or spoon a dollop of it over an apple pie. You can thicken sauces by adding it at the end once the sauce is ready. You can also have it on plain toast, with or without jam. It also goes beautifully on crackers with smoked salmon or roast chicken.
10. To make Crème Fraîche Frosting, place the mixing bowl and the whip in the freezer section of your refrigerator for 20-25 minutes. Remove the bowl and the beater from the freezer and beat the Crème Fraîche. You may add a few drops of vanilla essence and sugar to taste (approx 1 tablespoon) and beat till it forms stiff peaks. You can use this for desserts instead of whipped cream.
11. You may share the direct blog-link of the recipe/s but do NOT publish my recipes and my photographs on any blog-site or website without my explicit consent or attempt to pass off my recipe/s as your own. You will be held accountable for plagiarism.
    
    

Mushy-Minty Peas

Mushy-Minty Peas

The base recipe is courtesy a very sexy chef who wields a mean (mean: as in great) knife in the kitchen ~ Gordon Ramsey. I've adjusted the spice proportions to my liking and to suit the Indian palate. Actually, I have to shamelessly admit I'm so busy drooling over him that I always check out the recipes on the net after the show. This one goes beautifully with batter fried fish so I promise the next recipe on the blog will be batter fried fish. Now you don’t have an excuse to not make this. ;-)

Ingredients:

200 grams frozen peas

2 shallots, roughly chopped

2 red chili, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped

15 -20 mint leaves, adjust the mint flavor to your liking

½ teaspoon finely crushed black pepper

Salt to taste

1½ tablespoon butter

Method:

1. Blanch peas in rapidly boiling hot water for 3 minutes. Drain. Retain the cooking liquid.
2. Heat butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add shallots, red chili, garlic cloves and sauté till the shallot turn translucent.
3. Add the drained peas, mint leaves, sauté for a few seconds. Add salt and pepper to taste. Toss well for a minute.
4. Mash the peas with a masher or in a grinder using the pulse mode. Use the cooking liquid as required to attain desired mushy consistency. (The mushy peas should remain slightly coarse). Serve with batter fried fish.
   
   

Chef Notes: 

1. This recipe makes about one cup of mushy peas.
2. Feel free to use fresh peas instead of frozen ones if you so wish. Please increase the time for blanching by a minute or two if using fresh ones.
3. Adjust the proportion of chilies and mint to suit your taste.
4. I have not used any color to brighten the color of the peas. The trick is to not over-blanch the peas. Over-blanching darkens the peas and lends a murky grey-green color to the peas.
5. I used a grinder in pulse mode to mash the peas instead of a manual masher.
6. Mushy peas are always ground to thick consistency. When you pick it with a spoon and set it on a plate it has to be a semi-smooth blob.
7. You may share the direct blog-link of the recipe/s but do NOT publish my recipes and my photographs on any blog-site or website without my explicit consent or attempt to pass off my recipe/s as your own. You will be held accountable for plagiarism.
   
   

Tartar Sauce

Tartar Sauce

Yes, this is yet another basic recipe for those of you who are newbie’s in the kitchen. Knowledge of basic recipes is quite essential which is why I intermittently post them. To people who cook regularly and are familiar with the basics, this is child’s play, but for people taking baby steps in the kitchen arena, such recipes can seem quite daunting. It is my agenda to address that fear by posting simple, basic recipes and assuring you they're extremely doable and easy. Once you have mastered the basics, cooking will feel like a walk in the park. This time I'm sharing the recipe for Tartar Sauce, a classic, that goes with lots of food but it goes best with crisp batter fried fish. Go on give the recipe a try and the next time you make batter fried fish serve it with a bowl of tartar sauce, made to perfection!

Ingredients:

1 cup mayonnaise (get the recipe here)

4 teaspoons baby gherkins, finely chopped

4 teaspoons red onions, finely chopped

2 teaspoons capers drained, and finely chopped

½ teaspoon black pepper powder
2 teaspoons parsley, finely chopped

Squeeze of lime juice, to taste

3 teaspoons cream, smoothened

Salt, to taste

 Method:

1. Mix together all of the ingredients in a small bowl except lime juice and cream.
2. Check for flavor balance and add lemon juice as required.
3. Add the smoothened cream, mix well.
4. Remove to a serving bowl and chill in the fridge for 6 hours before serving.
   
   

Chef Notes: 

1. If you don't have access to capers you can substitute them by adding chopped green olives.
2. If the capers you use are soaked in vinegar, lightly rinse them in water before use.
3. If you prefer to use a wee bit more onions, gherkins and capers, feel free to do that.
4. You may use the sauce immediately if you wish but the flavors of the added ingredients blend better when the sauce is allowed to rest in the fridge for a few hours.
5. I usually make mayonnaise with whole egg but if you have a tried and tested mayonnaise recipe or would prefer to make it only with egg yolks, feel free to go with the recipe preferred by you.
6. If red onions aren't available use regular onions available in the market.
7. This sauce keeps in the fridge for 3 days.
8. You may share the direct blog-link of the recipe/s but do NOT publish my recipes and my photographs on any blog-site or website without my explicit consent or attempt to pass off my recipe/s as your own. You will be held accountable for plagiarism.
   
   
   
   

Creamy Blue Cheese Dip

Creamy Blue Cheese Dip

Blue cheese dip has become the ‘classic’ accompaniment to crispy chicken wings and crunchy nibbles such as celery and carrot sticks, radishes and green onions. This also takes potato wedges to a new high. Also, this will be an ideal way for you to try the Sour Cream recipe I posted a couple of days back. It's time to bring out those wedges and wings from the freezer. ;-)

Ingredients:

½ cup sour cream (get the recipe here)

½ cup blue cheese, crumbled

¼ cup mayonnaise (get the recipe here)

1 small clove garlic, finely chopped

1 tablespoon milk

Juice of ½ lemon, or to taste

Salt, to taste

Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1 teaspoon chives, chopped (optional)

Method:

1. Pulse the sour cream, blue cheese, mayonnaise, garlic, milk and lemon juice in a blender until combined but still chunky.
2. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Add the chopped chives. Retain a wee bit to garnish.
4. Cover and refrigerate until serving time.
5. At serving time, uncover, garnish with remaining chives and serve.
   
   

Chef Notes:

1. As the sour cream required for this was a small batch, I beat the cream by hand, with a whisk. If you are up to it feel free to give it a go by the whisk-hand method. It’s a wonderful experience to see the cream work under your hands, though, if you're in a lazy or rushed mode, feel free to pick up that hand blender.
2. The sour cream should have just a tinge of sourness; it should not be tart in flavor. What you need is a very mild hint of sour.
3. The given quantity makes 1¼ cup of dip.
4. The Creamy Blue Cheese Dip keeps in the fridge for a week. 
5. You may share the direct blog-link of the recipe/s but do NOT publish my recipes and my photographs on any blog-site or website without my explicit consent or attempt to pass off my recipe/s as your own. You will be held accountable for plagiarism.
   
   

Sour Cream

 Sour Cream

Yup! I’m going to share yet another basic recipe with you. I learned this from Executive Chef Amit Chand of Hotel Novotel - Pune, during a cookery workshop that he had invited me to. Sour cream is a very versatile dairy product. Among other things, sour cream is used in dips; it is blobbed over baked jacket-potatoes and is also used as salad dressing. Store bought Sour Cream tubs are quite expensive. I see no reason for you to spend that kind of money when I can guide you to make sour cream at home, and quite easily at that. Also, the final result to the main dish for which you use the homemade sour cream is not going to be different at all. I promise!! :-)

Ingredients:

200 mils fresh cream (refrigerated)

½ -1 teaspoon lime juice





Method:

1. In a bowl, add the cream and whisk till the cream begins to thicken.
   
   
   
   
2. Add ½ teaspoon of lemon juice and whisk again until the cream thickens a bit more. Taste the cream, if it does not have that perfect hint of sourness, add a wee bit more.
3. Beat the cream till it forms soft, semi-stiff peaks. When you achieve that consistency, you have successfully made sour cream without spending a bundle. Enjoy!
   
   

Chef Notes:

1. Preferably make this in small batches to ensure the cream does not turn to clarified butter. I say this because most of us (me included) are home cooks and not professional chefs.
2. I beat the cream by hand with a whisk. Give it a go by hand. It’s a wonderful experience to see the cream work under your hands, though, if you're in a lazy or rushed mode, feel free to pick up that hand blender.
3. The sour cream should have a tinge of sourness; it should not be extremely tart in flavor. What you need is a very mild flavor of sour.
4. Having now made this an umpteen number of times, for family and friends, I can say with certainly that depending on the tartness of the lime, the quantity of lime juice required will only vary between ½ a lime to 1 lime.
5. When I say ‘soft, semi-stiff peaks’, I mean when you lift the cream on the whisk, the blobs that fall from it should form soft peaks in the bowl as they fall in. 
6. You may share the direct blog-link of the recipe/s but do NOT publish my recipes and my photographs on any blog-site or website without my explicit consent or attempt to pass off my recipe/s as your own. You will be held accountable for plagiarism.
   
   
   

Garlic Herb Butter

Garlic Herb Butter

After The Never-Fail Blender Mayonnaise recipe for newbie's of the culinary world, I bring you a recipe that is simple and yet extremely versatile in its use. From the humble Garlic Bread  to an exotic dish like Chicken Kiev, Garlic Herb Butter is a 'mix' you can incorporate in various dishes. Once again, it’s time to impress your friends and family with your culinary skills and watch them go “ummmm”. ;-)

Ingredients:

1 cup butter, softened

¼ cup fresh parsley, finely chopped

½ -1 tablespoon lemon juice, adjust to your preference 

2 clove garlic, chopped to a fine mince

2 green chilies, deseeded and finely chopped

2 fresh red chilies, deseeded and finely chopped

Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

 Method:

1. Beat butter until soft and smooth.
2. Stir in parsley, red chilies, green chilies, pepper powder and garlic.
3. Add lemon juice to taste.
4. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or up to three days. You can also freeze it up to a week.
   
   

Chef Notes:

1. This recipe can be prepared ahead in time.
2. You can also shape the butter into logs/rolls; wrap them individually in plastic cling film and freeze them for up to a week. (Posting a pic of the herb butter logs i had made for Chicken Kiev )
   
   
   
   
3. I chose parsley as my primary herb but feel free to go with any herb of your choice.
4. This recipe makes one cup of herb butter.
5. Please do not butcher the parsley when you chop it. That also goes for mint, coriander and various other herbs that you chop, as and when required for other dishes. 
6. You may share the direct blog-link of the recipe/s but do NOT publish my recipes and my photographs on any blog-site or website without my explicit consent or attempt to pass off my recipe/s as your own. You will be held accountable for plagiarism.
   
   

The Never-Fail Blender Mayonnaise

The Never-Fail Blender Mayonnaise

When I started out as a newbie in the kitchen, this blender recipe was my sure-shot way to making superb mayonnaise. Not all visitors to food blogs and recipe forums are experts in the kitchen. Quite a lot of people are hesitant to enter the kitchen arena even in regard to simple recipes such as this one. Mayonnaise is a base for many dips and sauces, but a few careless mistakes while making it could have you holding a bowl of split/curdled mayo. I am specially posting this recipe to give newbies the confidence to attempt something as delicate as mayonnaise. This is your way of ensuring that mayo gets to be a definite ‘can do’ item in your kitchen.

Ingredients:

1 egg

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon white pepper powder

½ teaspoon mustard powder

2-6 teaspoons powdered sugar, depending on your preference of sweetness

1½ teaspoons white vinegar or lime juice, or to taste (I used lime juice)

290 ml oil (I used Sundrop Superlite Advanced)

Method:

1. Place the egg, sugar, seasonings and vinegar/lime juice in a blender/liquidizer and blend on the first (slowest) setting for a few seconds.
   
   
   
   
2. I used the beater-bowl but most of you will be using the blender/liquidizer jar of your mixer-grinder. There is a small detachable vent/lid at the top of the main blender/liquidizer lid. Carefully open that small vent and still blending at the same setting (slowest speed), add oil little by little (about a tablespoon at a time). As soon as you see the oil getting absorbed into the mayo, immediately pour in another tablespoon and continue doing so till all the oil is used up. The mixture will thicken when you gradually pour the oil.
   
   
3. Check mayo for seasoning. (For sugar, salt and pepper - adjust as desired)
4. Store in a clean, sterilized bottle. It stays in the fridge for up to 10 days. This quantity makes about a cup and a quarter. (You see quite a lot of mayo in the jar because i tripled the quantity for daily use.)
   
   

Chef Notes: 

1. I have been making this mayonnaise since the late 80’s. I have never known it to curdle/split. This recipe, when followed to the T, just doesn't go wrong.
   
   
   
   
2. IMPORTANT: If you add the oil gradually, a little at a time, there is no way the mayo will curdle/split. 
3. IMPORTANT: Always blend the mayonnaise on speed 1 (lowest speed). If you blend at medium or high speed I guarantee you will be seeing curdled/split mayo in the blender jar. This is one time when haste will definitely make waste.
4. My Grumpy Tomcat (read: husband) prefers the mayo very sweet (God knows why! *rolling eyes*) hence I take the sugar right up to 6 teaspoons when I make it for him.
5. This is the base recipe for mayonnaise. Feel free to add flavors to it, as per your choice. Eg. Add extra garlic for garlic mayo. Add chili sauce for a spicy mayo. Add cream when you need a creamy mayo but ensure you blend it gently. Use your imagination and notch up the mayo flavor/s as you please.
   
6. Please use powdered sugar as sometimes regular sugar doesn't blend too fine. I used my Phillips beater to make this hence powdered sugar was a necessity.  
7. I am also posting an image of the blender jar to show you the small vent opening I mentioned in the recipe. I hope that helps you understand where you have to pour the oil from when the blender is on ‘in use’ mode.
   
   
   
   
8. As in regard to the mustard, pepper and salt proportions, I have mentioned the exact proportions as used by me. Please use those as a base-line and feel free to adjust the seasonings to suits your taste buds.
9. Do not add anything acidic to the mayo once you begin adding the oil as that could well result in curdled/split mayo. Once you have mastered the art of making mayo the next time you throw a party make some mayo-based dips and impress your guests ;-) 
10. You may share the direct blog-link of the recipe/s but do NOT publish my recipes and my photographs on any blog-site or website without my explicit consent or attempt to pass off my recipe/s as your own. You will be held accountable for plagiarism.
    
    

Al Faham Chicken with Al Faham Curry Dip

Al Faham Chicken with Al Faham Curry Dip

This same recipe can also be made using paneer (cottage cheese) or baby potato (pricked with a fork) if you’re a vegetarian but of course the carnivore in me just had to go with chicken. ;-)

Ingredients:

500 gms chicken, boneless breast pieces (I preferred to use drumsticks and thigh pieces)

1 cup curd/plain yogurt

2 tablespoons ginger-garlic paste

2-3 teaspoons Al Faham Masala (Zaiqa brand)

Ingredients:

1. If using boneless chicken breasts, slit the breast to flatten it to a big flat piece and hammer lightly with meat mallet to flatten. (I put light slits on the drumsticks and thigh pieces as we usually do when making tandoori chicken)
2. Beat the curd to smoothen it. Add ginger-garlic paste, Al Faham masala to the curd. Marinate the chicken in the curd masala for 4 hours (You may marinate it longer. I marinated it for 7 hours)
3. Remove the excess marinade and grill the chicken on a bbq, or under the grill in an oven or pan-grill it on a stove until the chicken is cooked and juicy. (I pan grilled it in a non-stick pan with about 5 tablespoons oil)
4. When the chicken is nearly done baste chicken with butter to heighten the flavor of the chicken. Serve with lemon wedges and salad of your choice. (I used the remaining marinade to made a spicy curry dip and served that with the chicken).
   
   

Al Faham Curry Dip

Ingredients:

Leftover Al Faham marinade in which the chicken had been marinated

1 small onion, finely chopped

1 small green chilies, finely chopped

1 large tomato, cut in half, grated

¾-1 teaspoon cayenne pepper (or as desired)

Salt, only if needed

1 tablespoon butter

Sugar to taste

2 sprigs of coriander, chopped

Method:

1. Heat butter, gently. Do not allow it to burn.
2. Add onions, green chili and fry till golden brown.
3. Add cayenne pepper and sauté.
4. Add grated tomatoes. Sauté till tomatoes are cooked and specks of butter appear on the surface of the gravy.
5. Add the leftover marinade, mix and allow to cook over gentle to medium heat till gravy thickens to a ‘thick dip’ consistency.
6. Check for salt. Add sugar to balance out the flavor of the gravy.
7. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve with Al Faham chicken. 

Chef Notes: 

1. The proportion of marinade was quite a lot after draining the chicken from it, for grilling, and I didn't want the marinade to go waste hence decided to make a spicy dip from the remaining marinade.
2. Al Faham BBQ/Grill is a special blend of spice I bought online. It’s a spice blend manufactured by Zaiqa – The Spice Store. To buy their spices visit their Face book page ‘Zaiqa - The Spice Store’ and message Anisa Arif for the same. 
3. You may share the direct blog-link of the recipe/s but do NOT publish my recipes and my photographs on any blog-site or website without my explicit consent or attempt to pass off my recipe/s as your own. You will be held accountable for plagiarism.