Friday Food Feature – August 21, 2015 blogging 101

Recipe for lentil soup:

Ingredients:

1. red lentil–(masoor daal) 1 cup

2.yellow lentil(moong daal) 1 cup

3. onion – 1 medium(finely sliced)

4.cayenne pepper- 1/2 teaspoon

5.salt to taste

6.curry powder- 2 teaspoon

7. garlic powder-1/2 teaspoon

8. ginger powder– 1/2 teaspoon

9. olive oil– 3 tablespoon

10. tomatoes- three whole tomatoes diced

Method:

wash the lentils thoroughly, until the water is clear, put aside. Heat the oil in the pot, add onions, fry until the sliced onion pieces are slightly brown. Do not burn it. Add all the spices including the salt, fry for one minute. Add the washed lentils with the water and the diced tomatoes, let it boil for five minutes, turn the heat low to simmer. When the grains of the lentil mixes with the water and looks like a paste, the lentil soup is done taste for salt if it is salty enough, take it off the stove.

Lentil soup can be served as soup or eaten with plain boiled rice as we do in Bangladesh. They are also eaten with chapatis( Tortillas) in Punjab. Lentil is considered a poor man’s protein.

Lentil soup

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Friday Food Feature

Every Friday, I hope to feature a special food with pictures and a recipe.  This Friday, I made some ground beef curry and spicy vegetables.

Here is the recipe for spicy  ground beef  curry:

Ingredients:

1. ground beef– one pound

2. onion- two medium size(chopped)

3. garlic( Fresh)- three cloves,minced

4. ginger(fresh) – 1, 1/2 tsp. paste

5. cayenne pepper- 1 tsp.

6. ground turmeric–1/2 tsp.

7. ground coriander– 1 tsp.

8. ground cumin– 3/4 tsp.

9. garam masala- 1 tsp.

10. ground cinnamon– 1/2 tsp.

11. ground clove–1/4 tsp.

12. ground all spice– 1/8 tsp.

13. cooking oil- 2 tbsp

14. salt –1 tsp.(or use as much as you think is enough)

15. 2 Medium tomatoes(chopped)

16.– one cupfrozen peas

Method:  Heat the oil in medium high heat in a wok , put the chopped onions in the hot oil, stir it . Make sure the onions are transparent, add garlic and ginger, mix it thoroughly for one minute, add the rest of the spices, stir for a minute. Add the ground beef and mix it with the spices. Cook until the beef  does not look raw(about ten to twelve minutes). Finally add the chopped tomatoes, stir until the tomatoes mix with the beef.( lower the heat to simmer).Add frozen peas, leave it for five minutes and lastly take the wok off the burner.

Ground beef curry can be served with plain boiled rice or naan. It cooks faster if you are pressed for time, it’s an ideal dish for those moments.

My next recipe is spicy vegetables:

Ingredients :1. Mixed   frozen vegetables : one small bag

                        2. 2 tbsp oil

                        3. 2 tsp.– curry powder

                       4. salt to taste

                       5. 1/2 tsp– cayenne powder or 1/4 tsp, if half a tsp is too much.

                       6. 1/2 tsp garlic powder

                       7. 1/2 tsp— ginger powder

                       8. 1 small onion chopped

Method : heat oil in a pot , add onions , let it cook until it’s light brown, add the rest of the spices stir until all the spices are mixed,add the frozen vegetables, mix it properly with the spices, lower the heat to simmer, cook until the vegetables are tender. Serve with rice or chapati( flat Indian whole wheat bread).

Sorry I wasn’t able to post this on Friday. Next time I do hope to post it on Fridays.

365 Writing Prompt: Seconds

Describe the most satisfying meal you’ve ever eaten, in glorious detail.

Sometimes a meal can be satisfactory without the word “Gourmet” attached to it.

Here is my reason for the above claim. I was always very simple minded when it came to food. There were times my mother would cook all kinds of delicious food, everyone in the family would be dancing up and down for this meal except me. I’d complain,”Mom, please can I have some lentils and mashed potatoes with my rice?”

I wish you could see the expression on my mom’s face, she’d say: Rani I cannot believe you want lentil and mash potatoes when I have cooked so many delicious foods?”

My mom called me Rani instead of Ranu if I said something outrageous.

Here is the glorious detail of my most satisfying meal.

For lentil the ingredients are:

1. one cup orange lentils(for soup)

2. half teaspoon- cayenne pepper

3. quarter teaspoon– turmeric powder

4. salt — half teaspoon

5. one small onion(diced)

6. two tablespoon— vegetable oil

7. water –two cups

Method:

Wash the lentils thoroughly until the water is crystal clear. Drain the water, pour the lentils in a saucepan. Put the pan on the stove, turn the heat to high, add salt, cayenne pepper, and turmeric. Bring it to a boil, if there are white scum floating, gently take it off with a spoon and discard it.Lower the heat to simmer, let it simmer until the grains mix with the water. Take the stove off the burner and  place a frying pan, use medium heat to heat the pan, pour the oil and when the oil is hot put the diced onion in the pan, fry until the onion is lightly brown, next step put the fried onions in the lentil soup, put the sauce pan to reheat the soup, taste for salt if it is suitable for you turn off the stove.

The next item is mashed potatoes:

Ingredients:

1. potatoes: two medium sized

2. Onion : one diced

3. dry red pepper: two

4. oil: one tablespoon

5. salt– half teaspoon

Method:

Boil the potatoes until they are soft. Heat the saucepan on the burner, pour the tablespoon of oil, when the oil is reasonably hot put the two dry peppers, with the spoon stir it until the peppers are a bit charred, take them out and place them in a bowl. Now put the diced onion and let it get slightly brown, do not let it burn, take them out of the pan and put them in another bowl.

Peel the boiled potatoes mash them with your hand or use a potato masher make sure there are no lumps. Next use your fingers to squash the dried peppers into a powder, care should be used to wash your finger thoroughly with soap after taking care of the peppers. Put the onions , powdered peppers, salt and mashed potatoes in a  slightly larger bowl to combine them together.

Serve it with plain boiled rice, it is delicious. I consider this tastier than any gourmet food I have eaten.

: https://sabethville.wordpress.com/2015/02/22/365-writing-prompt-seconds/

 

365 Writing Prompts: Food for the soul(and the stomach)

Tell us about your favorite meal, either to eat or to prepare. Does it just taste great, or does it have other associations?

My favorite meal is the one my mom cooked for our special celebration of “Eid al Fitr,” it’s a day after one month of Ramadhan, there was a lot of things about this day which made us happy, we wore new clothes,my Dad gave us money and my mom cooked the most delicious meal for us.

Now when I think about  those days it makes me sad , because our parents have passed away and we the siblings live in different cities.

I try to cook the same meal Mom cooked, it’s probably not as good as my mother’s but I do try.

Rice is our staple food, so the menu will always have rice, because it’s a special day I cook rice pilaf.

Recipe for rice pilaf:

Ingredients:

1. Rice–2 cups basmati rice( wash and drain the water an hour before cooking)

2. onion –1 small( slice small pieces)

3. Clarified butter– half cup

4. salt — one and a half teaspoon

5.peas fresh or frozen — 3/4 cup

6.water– 3 cups(boil before pouring on the rice)

Spices:

1. cinnamon stick– one, half inch long

2. whole cardamom– 4

Method:

In a saucepan pour the clarified butter, onion, cinnamon,cardamom, salt , fry the spices and onion until the onion is transparent. Pour the two cups of washed rice for about two to three minutes to fry it in the same saucepan. Pour three cups of water and let the ingredients come to a boil, finally add the peas and continue to boil for another minute. Lower the heat to simmer , cover the saucepan and let the rice simmer for twenty minutes.Turn the heat off  remove the saucepan and place it on a mat for five minutes. Then serve.

Next is chicken korma recipe the way my Mom cooked it.

Ingredients:

1. One whole chicken—cut in small pieces

2. Yoghurt– half cup

3.Onion– two medium size(blend into a paste)

4. ginger fresh— two tablespoons

5. fresh garlic paste — two teaspoons

6.ground coriander–one teaspoon

7. ground cumin—one teaspoon

8. salt to taste

9.clarified butter or oil—quarter cup

10. sugar– one and a half teaspoon

11. cinnamon stick–1 inch long ( break it into smaller pieces).

Method:

Heat the oil or clarified  butter in a wide pot on top of the stove, put the onion paste, garlic and ginger, fry for five minutes, add the cumin , coriander , cinnamon sticks  and salt , fry two to three minutes more, gradually pour half cup yoghurt stir gently while pouring, next put the chicken pieces, stir until the pieces are coated with the onion mixture. Cook it in medium heat for twenty minutes, uncover and sprinkle the sugar, turn down the heat to minimum and cook about ten minutes more.Serve it in a dish.

My mom cooked chicken and rice, it was our favorite meal, she also cooked beef which was hot and spicy, for salad she used cucumber, tomatoes, onion, salt and lime juice and a few hot green chillies. they were sliced and tossed in a bowl . We enjoyed the meal with our family and always looked forward to next year.

p://sabethville.wordpress.com/2014/11/10/365-writing-pr…nd-the-stomach/

 

 

 

 

Kebab Recipe Ranu’s post https://sabethville.wordpress.com

English: Glögg recipe: spices used, clockwise from top, Cinnamon, Ginger (sliced), cloves, cardamom. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Ingredients:

1. Meat(beef) two and a half pound roast,sliced into three-fourths of an inch,size of each piece , length= 3 inches, width= two inches.

2. Onion– 5 medium size, the slices should be same as beef pieces.

3. Potatoes_  5 large, sliced the same as beef  pieces.

4. Tomatoes__6, medium size; sliced same as beef pieces.

5. Yoghurt– 2 cups; plain

6. Oil or Clarified butter– three-fourth cup

7. Whole spices—  a. red dried chillies– 12

b. pepper corn( black pepper) 15 pieces.

c. cloves–12 pieces.

d. whole green cardamom—12

e. cinnamon stick— 6 half inch pieces.

f. bay leaf—6 to 8

8. Ground spices:

a. cumin– 1 tsp.

b. coriander–1  tsp.

Ginger and Garlic– it is best to have them fresh.

1. ginger– 1 inch piece crushed into a paste.

2. garlic–5 cloves, crushed into a paste.

1. Salt– 2 level teaspoon

Mix the the ground spices,fresh garlic and ginger with the yoghurt and put it aside.

Utensil— one five quart round pot with cover.

Method :

Grease bottom of pot with two tablespoons of oil or clarified butter, carefully put the slices of onion,followed by two tablespoons of spiced mixed  yoghurt, three whole chillies,four pepper corns,three whole cloves,three cardamoms,two cinnamon sticks,and two bay leaves  and two tablespoons of oil .Cover this layer with beef and follow the same method as the top layer with the yoghurt,spices , one teaspoon salt and oil. After beef next is potatoes, put  same amount of spices ,oil, yoghurt as on the first layer.The last layer is tomatoes, put the remaining spices,yoghurt,oil and the second teaspoon of salt.

If there is beef, potatoes, onion and tomatoes left, Do the same as in part one but do not use extra spices ,just use less for the part one layers and use them in the second part.

place the pot in a pre-heated oven 350 degrees for approximately an hour. Check after thirty minutes to see everything is working well. turn off the oven and leave the pot for 45 minutes  more. This will help to dry the liquid.

I’m reposting a recipe of mine instead of today’s writing prompt, this will I hope explain why I will not settle for red or blue pill, as a substitute for real food.

nk: https://sabethville.wordpress.com/2013/12/16/kebab-recipe-r…-wordpress-com/

 

 

Freshly made clarified butter, still liquid (Photo credit: Wikipedia)