Mushroom-broccoli with mustard-poppy paste

[Hurray! I won the Food Frenzy Recipe challenge once again! Thanks, dear readers, for voting me. My entry was Fresh Mango-Berry-Yogurt Popsicles and I won the August Challenge.]

Inside a quiet Buddhist monastery in Lantau Island, Hong Kong

Hong Kong has taught me a lot in these past few months. I love the people here... the attitude is quite friendly towards the expats and even if some of the localites know only Cantonese, they would try to help you in the market or any public place even with simple gestures and broken English words. I have learnt how to express myself with gestures while shopping in the wet market (although sometimes things get really funny!). I have started communicating with some of the veggie sellers now. For example, the other day , one of the vegetable sellers asked me, pointing towards the coriander leaves: "Ah, what this English?" (meaning, "Ah, what do you call this in English?"). I told her the answer and she wrote it down. In return, I wrote down a few local words for the popular vegetables and fruits. This really helps in the long run! I never understand the total billing amount, which they always tell me confidently in their own language; so we (the veggie seller and me) have a kind of understanding now and she types the amount for me in her calculator and shows that to me! How simple, isn't it? Who says, language can be a barrier?

Today, I bought some fresh button mushrooms and broccoli from the wet market here and made up my mind to use these "non-desi" ingredients to cook an extremely authentic and a celebrity dish in my motherland. This West-Bengal-based curry base using a mixture of mustard and poppy seeds (called shorshe-posto bata in Bengali) is cooked in every special occassion in almost every home, although this is generally cooked with either fish or with a choice of those vegetables which are hard to trace in Hong Kong.

 
The speciality is the pungent taste of raw mustard oil, combined with spicy mustard and poppy-seed pastes, which yields a curry base with a taste simply uncomparable! I tried to add a twist to this dish by choosing button mushrooms and broccoli to go into this curry: the result was fantastic! Mustard oil is highly preferred in this dish, but if you don't get this, please omit the extra addition of raw oil at the last step.

So, why don't you give this a try too? I am sure, you will get all the ingredients easily in every part of the world! And hey, it is Vegan, too!

Mushroom-broccoli with mustard-poppy paste

Ingredients:
Fresh button mushrooms (each halved): 10
Onion paste: 4 tbsp
Broccoli florets: 12-14
Mustard seeds: 2 tbsp
Poppy seeds (white): 4 tbsp
Fresh green chillies: 2
Mustard oil (divided): 4 tbsp
Turmeric powder: 3/4 tsp
Salt: 1 tsp

The unfiltered mustard-poppy seed-chilli paste (use this fresh for best results!)

The fine paste (right) to be used in the curry here

Method of preparation:

First, heat 2 tbsp mustard oil to a smoking point. fry the broccoli florets with 1/2 tsp salt, till these are firm yet soft enough to be broken by the cooking spoon on applying pressure. Remove from the pan.

The perfectly shallow-fried broccoli florets

In the same pan, add 1 tbsp more oil and wait till it starts to smoke. Add the onion paste and the rest of the salt. Saute till the paste is somewhat dry. Now add the turmeric powder and the mushrooms. Mix well. Cook on a medium flame for 7 min.

Add the cooked broccoli florets now and cook for two more minutes.

Now add the strained fine paste of the mustard seeds, poppy seeds, green chillies, a pinch of salt and a pinch of turmeric powder. Mix well and cook for 10 min under low heat.

Switch off the gas. To serve, pour this curry in a serving dish and add 1 tbsp mustard oil from the top. Serve this hot with steamed rice!



Ultimate Pasta Brunch and Being Listed Under "Top Expats and Hong Kong Blogs"!

Ultimate pasta brunch

PERFECTION.

That's what I am thriving for... searching for... and want to achieve in my work. The process is still on and every day marks a new beginning for me to achieve this in some way or the other: even in simple day-to-day activities. Be it teaching my four-year-old son and two-year-old daughter to be a little independent with each passing day, spending quality time with my family or training my Filipino helper to make those perfect Indian dishes! Be it making the best use of those unwanted orange peels or trying my hands on learning my favourite Italian dish: PASTA!

Cosmopolitan Currymania is the stop for multicuisine extravaganza, although Indian cooking predominates in my space. And I will work hard for making my culinary skills expand more and more outside the {huge} boundaries of Indian cooking as well!

So I resolved that I am going to try something new today in my domain, i.e., my kitchen! Maybe I can start with mastering the art called pasta!

PASTA and PERFECTION.

My family loves eating Italian food and it is my challenge to myself to explore the awesomeness called "Italian cuisine"!

So my fellow friends, this pasta dish is something I relate to my passion for perfection. Hope you enjoy the journey to dish out this delicacy for an unforgettable brunch! Do give me a feedback about this recipe! I would really appreciate your comments on this!!

Ultimate pasta brunch

Ingredients:

Pasta (spiral): 250 g
Chicken breasts (cut into medium-small pieces): 1 cup
Broccoli florets: 10
White button mushroms (each halved): 10
Good quality, medium-sized pork sausages (cut into four pieces each): 2
Worcestershire sauce: 1 tsp
Finely chopped onion: 3/4 cup
Finely chopped garlic: 3 tbsp
Fresh or dry basil: 1 tsp
Milk: 2 cups
Fresh cream (optional): 3 tbsp
White cheddar cheese (grated): 1 cup
Boiled eggs: 5
Pitted and preserved olives: handful
Pine nuts (toasted): 1/4th cup
Chopped red apple: 1/2
Chopped pineapple: 1/4 cup
Black grapes: 10
Salt: 2 tsp
Olive oil (divided): 3 tbsp
Freshly crushed white pepper: 1 tsp
Butter (divided): 2 tbsp
Water (for boiling the pasta): 3 cups

Method of preparation:

Boil pasta with 1/2 tsp olive oil and 1/2 tsp salt in water, till these are soft, yet firm. Drain the water. Keep the boiled pasta aside.

Shallow-fry the broccoli and mushrooms together in 1 tbsp olive oil, Worcestershire sauce and 1/2 tsp salt for 5-7 min. Keep aside.

In the same pan, add the rest of the olive oil and shallow-fry the chopped sausages for 5 min and keep aside. Repeat the same with chicken breasts, marinated for 15 min in 1/2 tsp salt and 1 tbsp finely chopped garlic. Keep aside separately.

Making the perfect white sauce!

Now return the pan to the fire again to make the white sauce. Add the butter and wait till it melts. Add the onion and the garlic and fry till brown. Add the all-purpose flour now and saute till this changes colour. Add the milk slowly in batches and stir continuously, till no lumps are there. Add the cream, grated cheese, basil and the white pepper powder.

Adding the grated cheese and the basil to the white sauce

Cook till the sauce starts to thicken. Add the rest of the salt, the cooked sausages and the cooked chicken breast pieces now. Mix well.

Add the cooked pasta and the mushroom-broccoli stir-fry to this. Mix well. Continue to cook for 3 min. Switch off the gas now.

Finally add the freshly chopped fruits and the olives. Coat the contents of the pan well with the white sauce before serving. Garnish with toasted, crunchy pine nuts and chopped boiled eggs just before serving! Nutrition in a plate!!

[Tip: If the white sauce becomes very thick, just add little warm milk to the sauce, but adjust the seasoning accordingly. The shallow-frying can be done the previous day to save time. However, the white sauce has to be always freshly made for best results!]

[I am so thrilled to share with you that "Hong Kong Blogs Review" has recommended Cosmopolitan Currymania highly to all its visitors and has listed this blog in "Top Expats and Hong Kong Blogs" category! Please click here to read what this esteemed website has to say about this blog. Thanks, dear readers, for appreciating Cosmopolitan Currymania so much!] 

Thai-Inspired Pork Mince with French Beans

[Please vote for me in the Food Frenzy Recipe Challenge under my name's entry (purabi): "Fresh mango-berry-yogurt popsicles". Thanks for the support!]
 

Ever since I came to Hong Kong (in November 2010), I am exposed to cuisines across the world at their best! Be it the Hong Kong cuisine itself or the French, Italian, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, Mexican or of course my favourite, which is Thai!! We have a good Thai restaurant very near to Tsing Yi, the place where I stay, and I tasted pork for the first time here. If you are surprised by this statement, let me tell you that in India, due to some religious beliefs, pork and beef are forbidden by the Hindus. So back in India, most of the Hindus like me are content relishing mutton and chicken and till the time I came here I didn't even have the urge to try these meats, to be frank.

But soon after we settled here, we started craving for mutton. There was no problem with the chicken since this is available in plenty and chicken here is much tastier than those in India. Even mutton is available, but one has to really search for it. There is a Pakistani gentleman who sells excellent quality mutton in Hong Kong, but that place is very far from mine. At times, we tasted China goat meat, which I felt, is not as good as the succulent mutton available in my homeland.

So you can say, the need to change the monotony of eating just one kind of meat (chicken) gave rise to tasting pork for the first time here. And that was the beginning of experimentation with meat! The other day I tasted beef too in a Chinese restaurant here (actually accidentally, thinking that it must be pork, as the menu was in Chinese and the people in that restaurant did not understand English at all!). I must say, I was amazed by the taste of beef as well! "AN" has even tasted camel and yak meat here and he says, those are equally good!

Coming back to pork meat, yes, I am loving it! Available everywhere, we can now easily rush to any Chinese restaurant and order those authentic dishes (pork dimsums are our favourite!) just by looking at the picture on the menu card! This is the advantage of people eating chicken, pork and beef and living in Hong Kong. They will get tired and at the same time, overwhelmed by the wonderful and huge variety of multicuisine meat dishes available here!

We particularly love Thai food, especially the Thai green curry with pork, and something very similar to the recipe shared today with you! The minced pork is marinated in soy sauce and stir-fried with string beans and garlic, salt and sugar (less pork and more beans). The recipe is simple, but the taste lingers!

So inspired by this Thai dish, I cooked a similar one at home, but modified it a little. I added some finely chopped onion too and increased the amount of pork mince in the dish. The beans are crunchy in this dish. The dish turned out to be so delicious that now we almost cook this every week!

If you trust my variations, believe me, onion really adds a great flavour to this. Varying the amount of miced pork is upto you, but I prefer this to be a little more than what they serve at restaurants.

Thai-inspired pork mince with French beans


Ingredients:

Minced pork: 400 g
French beans: 15
Finely chopped onion: 1 cup
Finely chopped garlic: 3 tbsp
Salt: 1/2 tsp
Light soy sauce: 2 tbsp
Sugar: 1/2 tsp
Sesame oil: 2 tbsp

Method of preparation:


Remove the ends and the side strings of each french bean and cut each into four pieces. Wash them and keep aside. Marinate the minced pork with salt and soy sauce for 20 min.

In a pan, add the oil. When it is hot, add the chopped onion and saute for 2 min. Now add the garlic and saute for two more minutes.



Add the French beans now, saute for 5 min and cook covered for five more minutes.

 Add the marinated pork mince now and saute for 10 min. Add the sugar, mix well, cover and cook for five more minutes. Done!

Serve with steamed rice, fried rice, vermicelli or noodles.

I Have Been Tagged and Another Award Too!

I am doing the first ever round-up for my recipes this time and I want to thank my amazing and talented Italian food blogger Manuela Zangara of Manu’s Menu (http://www.manusmenu.com/) for that! This is because she tagged me in the 7 Links Game, and this is catching up fast in the blogosphere with its uniqueness. If you don’t know yet about how to play this game, I will tell you about the rules:

 The nominated blogger must publish seven links of his/her own blog for the following categories (but only one link for each category):

 1. The most beautiful post

 2. The most popular post

 3. The most controversial post

 4. The most helpful post

 5. The post that was surprisingly successful

 6. The post that did not get the attention it deserved

 7. The post I am most proud of

 The blogger then nominates up to five more bloggers to take part in the challenge and the ball rolls on. So isn’t it a fabulous game? I am so excited about sharing my seven links now. So here they are:

1.      The most beautiful post: Fresh Mango-berry-yogurt popsicles!

When I was clicking the pictures of these colourful, fruity popsicles, I had an intuition that it should get selected in atleast one of my favourite food porn sites and it really got selected in Foodgawker! I admit that I am just learning the basics in food photography and the acceptance definitely gave me the passion to do even better in photography and take food photography even more seriously. I was amazed by the huge amount of traffic this post generated from Foodbuzz, Foodgawker, Facebook, Twitter and Google and even more, when I saw this in Foodgawker’s “Most Popular in 7 days” list!! Thanks, all, for appreciating the picture!

2.      The most popular post: Tom Yum Goong (Thai hot and sour prawn soup)

If you take the number of comments into account (91 comments so far), the Thai Tom Yum Goong recipe is by far, the most popular among the 32 posts since I started my blog! I guess it is the uniqueness of the fresh Thai ingredients (especially the lemongrass), which made it the winner among my readers' eyes. I think, Tom Yum Goong is the recipe not to be missed if you love seafood!

3.      The most controversial post: Cauliflower-lychee curry with curry leaves

Although, there is nothing which I’d mark as “controversial”, but since there is this category in this challenge, so I included this post under this because initially few of my readers were wondering how lychee would taste with cauliflower. But later they were convinced and happy with the results! Thanks for giving this dish a try, dear readers! Unless we invent new dishes or new combinations, we will only be recycling heirloom and the common recipes, isn’t it?

4.      The most helpful post: Mughlai Kheema Paratha (mutton-mince-stuffed royal Indian flatbread)

The whole world loves the amazing variety of parathas cooked in India. But, there is a huge chunk of foodies worldwide who are compromising on buying them frozen from superstores or spending a lot of money in Indian restaurants. I was so happy when I received appreciation from many of you when my readers said that the recipe is of great help in making an authentic Indian paratha at home with my step-by-step instructions. Thanks again!

5.      The post that was surprisingly successful: Citrus-skin fried rice

 This fried rice was a result of a small experiment in my kitchen, when I was amazed by the citrusy smell of the orange and lime peels I was about to discard! This came as a surprise to many of my readers and I was honoured and humbled that one of my bloggy friends, Wan Maznah, of Cooking-Varieties wrote this about the recipe (I was the winner for the Food Frenzy June 2011 recipe challenge for this recipe):

“One more great exotic Fried rice recipe to its collection. This submission from Purabi Naha called Citrus-Zest Fried Rice is simply the best in culinary I have ever encountered. My vote for this recipe.”

Thanks, Wan Maznah, for those encouraging words.

6.      The post that did not get the attention it deserved:  Piquant oyster mushroom curry with bamboo shoots and bell peppers

This was a fusion dish. I think this post deserved more attention, although I was not entirely dissatisfied with the number of comments or traffic generated by this post during my initial period of blogging. Maybe, I was not concentrating enough on pictures as I was quite new to food photography during that time.

7.      The post I am most proud of: Legacy of the royal Indian biryani

Biryani speaks volumes about the art of Indian cooking. I am proud of sharing this unique recipe in Cosmopolitan Currymania, which, although elaborate, but will yield something which is so authentic, so aromatic and so royal! It was a matter of pride also because this was my first post ever in any International magazine (the article was featured in Zomppa).

All said and done, it time to tag five more bloggers! Here are the nominees:

1.  Vicki Bensinger of In-home culinary classes

2. Malou Nievera of Skip to Malou

3. Nava. K of Nava-K

4.  Wan Maznah of Cooking-Varieties

5.  Sissi of With a Glass

Last, but not the least, I’d like to thank awesome Jay of Tasty Appetite for passing me this beautiful award! Jay has a wonderful blog full of innovative and yummy recipes for you! So don’t miss to check out Tasty Appetite! Thank you, Jay, for awarding Cosmopolitan Currymania with this!

[Voting lines are now open for the Food Frenzy Recipe Challenge August 2011. Please vote for my entry, Fresh Mango-Berry-Yogurt Popsicles, and support me for the same. Thank you!]

Incredible Spices of India and Guest Post in Zomppa

[I am pleased to tell you all that this article has been originally published in Zomppa, the International food magazine. I sincerely thank Patricia Hines and Belinda for publishing my article in the esteemed magazine.]

A spread of Indian whole spices

 Discovering Indian cuisine is a gastronomical journey through the “spice route”! Indian spices can weave magic to any bland dish with their versatility. The reason why India boasts of thousands of recipes is because of its amazing variety of spices and spice mixes (powder or paste of an assortment of spices), along with a plethora of cooking techniques and other ingredients.

The traditional stone is still used for manually grinding whole spices. The texture and taste of the final product are much better, as compared to the modern grinders!

Spices are good for you!

Indian spices have amazing medicinal properties, and the popular ancient Indian medicinal practice known as Ayurveda employs these wonder spices for various kinds of healing, with no side effects!

For example, research has proved now that turmeric (active ingredient: curcumin) has anti-cancer, anti-arthritic and anti-inflammatory properties. Warm turmeric-milk is extremely effective against indigestion and sore throat. Similarly, cloves have healing properties against toothache, gum decay, asthma and acidity. Fenugreek seeds help in easing any kind of pain and are given in plenty to women after child delivery. Ginger is very effective against cough and colds. On the other hand, cumin is known for its healing properties against indigestion and other stomach problems.

Popularity of Indian spices

So much is the importance of spices in India and the global demand of these that there is a separate authority for the promotion of Indian spices worldwide, called Spices Board India, maintained by the Ministry of Commerce, Government of India. The board does a lot of effort for the development of Indian spices, which are the “heart” of Indian cuisine!

Spices in three forms: whole, ground and paste

Whole spices being dry-roasted perfectly: ready for the grind!

The whole spices mainly include fenugreek seeds (methidana), bay leaves (tej patta), dry red chilli (sabut laal mirch), nigella seeds (kalonji or mangrel), aniseed, nutmeg (jaiphal), mace (javitri), cumin (jeera), black cumin (shahi jeera), mustard (rai), coriander seeds (sabut dhania), Cinnamon (dalchini), brown cardamom (badi elaichi), cloves (laung or lavang), fennel (saunff) small and big, white sesame seeds (till), green cardamom (elaichi), tamarind (imli), dry ginger (saunth), black peppercorns (kali mirch), black pepper (kali mirch) and poppy seeds (khuskhus).

The ground spices (powders) are coriander powder (dhania powder), pomegranate seed powder (anardana powder), turmeric powder (haldi), dry mango powder (aamchur), asafoetida (hing), red chilli powder (laal mirchi powder), cumin powder (jeera powder) and mint powder (pudina powder).

Ground spices and masalas

A few masalas (mixture of spices) like paan masala, pav bhaji masala, chat masala, garam masala, chana masala, tea masala, sambhar masala, tandoori chicken masala, meat masala, jaljeera and kasoori methi are very famous and used commonly in Indian households and restaurants.

These are the common Indian spices. However, there are many more too!

Relishing Indian curries!

Curry is believed to have originated in India. A curry is a side dish, cooked with a combination of spices and herbs, along with one or more kinds of vegetables, fish, meat and/or egg and sometimes, the fruits. During the British rule in India, curry was introduced slowly to the Western palate.

Originally, the word “curry” was the British way to pronounce the Tamil word kari, the Punjabi, Sindhi and Gujrati kadhi and the Bengali tarkari! Alternatively, the word curry might have originated from the word “karahi”, which is a cooking utensil, also known as wok in English.

Roughly, there are more than one thousand curries existing in India itself!

Two tried-and-tested recipes of spice mixes (masalas)

Garam masala: This versatile masala is added to increase the richness and aroma of a huge number of dishes in India. You may alter the amount of this masala in a dish to suit your spice tolerance. There is, however, no set measurement for the ingredients in any masala. But I am sharing with you the one I have tried and tested almost on a regular basis for almost seven years now. Store them in airtight containers in a cool, dry place. [Tip: Replace the lid of the container immediately after use to prevent the aroma from escaping.]

For the basic garam masala, two cinnamon (one-inch) sticks, four cloves and six green cardamoms are ground to a fine powder.

For making the special garam masala (used especially in meat dishes), you need the following, to be ground to a fine powder: two cinnamon (one-inch) sticks, four cloves, six green cardamoms, two brown cardamoms, 1 tbsp black peppercorns, 2 tsp caraway seeds, 1 tbsp cumin seeds, ½ tsp nutmeg powder and ½ tsp mace powder.

[Note: The commercially available readymade masalas such as tandoori masala, dhansak masala, sambhar masala, chana masala, etc, have either garam masala or curry masala as one of their constituents.]

Curry powder: This can be made in a couple of ways. The amounts of the ingredients may be varied. The recipe given below gives great results!

Dry-roast 2 tsp coriander seeds, 1 tsp cumin seeds, ½ tsp fennel seeds, ½ tsp  fenugreek seeds,  3 dried red chillies and 3 curry leaves until these become nicely browned and release a rich aroma. Put these (after cooling) into a spice mill or a grinder to grind them into a very fine powder. Now mix ½ tsp turmeric powder and ½ tsp salt with this and store in an airtight container.

Jaljeera: the healthy and spicy Indian summer drink!

The famous Indian summer drink: Jaljeera

The word “jal” means water and “jeera” means cumin. This is an exotic North Indian drink, which is very popular in Indian restaurants worldwide. This is a spicy drink and an appetizer, which is believed to not only cool the body (because of mint in them) in hot weather, but this aids in digestion (attributed to the cumin and rock salt) as well! It is a drink served in Indian get-togethers and cultural ceremonies.

The jaljeera drink has lemonade as the main constituent. This is mixed with the jaljeera powder and finely chopped mint or fresh mint paste is added at the end, topped with unsweetened mini gram-flour balls called boondi (optional). Following is the recipe of light jaljeera.

Ingredients:

Cumin seeds: 1.5 tsp

Dry ginger powder: ½ tsp
Dry red chilli (optional): ½
Black peppercorns: 5
Fresh mint leaves (finely chopped): 4
Black salt: ¾ tsp
Dry mango powder (aamchur): ½ tsp
Sugar (optional): ½ tsp
Asafoetida: two pinches
Lime juice: 2 tbsp
Cold water

Method of preparation:

Make a paste of the mint leaves with black salt, dry ginger powder, dry mango powder, asafoetida and sugar.

Dry-roast the cumin seeds and the dry red chilli till these release an aroma and are lightly browned. Add the peppercorns and roast for another 1 min over a low flame. Cool this mixture under open air and grind to a very fine powder.

Mix this powder with the mint mixture and store in an airtight jar. This becomes the jaljeera powder.

To make one glass of jaljeera, put the lime juice and 1 tsp of jaljeera powder into the glass. Add cold water to fill the glass. Check for salt and sugar and adjust if needed.

Sprinkle a few chopped mint leaves at the top or use salted boondi.

Fresh Mango-Berry-Yogurt Popsicles!

Fresh mango-berry-yogurt popsicles

Summer vacation for kids means you have to gear up with quite a lot of extra energy to keep yourself as active as they are, isn’t it?! My kids want to play the whole day…sometimes they are so excited about playing that they would not simply spend some of their “precious” time in “useless projects” like eating! But then, we are moms. We know how to make our kids eat!

My sweet and naughty kids...the older one is going to be four years old very soon!

So when my kids refuse to have the usual “healthy” food comprising milk, fruits, eggs, bread, yogurt, etc., sometimes I make something fancy out of these. Why not make some super-easy, healthy and colourful popsicles with lots of fruits and yogurt for your kids! I add some honey along with a little sugar, which makes this even more healthier. I am sure they are going to enjoy this and ask you for more!

Fresh Mango-Berry-Yogurt Popsicles

Ingredients (for six popsicles):

Colourful, fresh fruits!

Yogurt (divided): 3 tbsp

Mango pulp: 4 tbsp
Coconut milk: 4 tbsp
Sugar (divided): 2 tsp
Honey (divided): 2 tbsp
Fresh cherries (deseeded and chopped): 6
Strawberries (chopped): 3
Banana (big one, chopped): 2 tbsp
Mint leaves (finely chopped): 2

Method of Preparation:

First layer:

Put the coconut milk and the mango pulp, alongwith 1 tbsp honey and 1 tsp sugar into a blender and blend it very well. Fill this into the popsicle moulds to the level you desire.

Second layer:

For the second (berry) layer, add the cherries, strawberries and banana into the blender. Add 1 tbsp yogurt and rest of the sugar. Blend to a fine paste. Pour this over the first layer in those moulds.

Third layer:

The third layer is done with the leftover contents of the second layer sticking to the blender. Add to this 2 tbsp yogurt, chopped mint leaves and the rest of the honey.

Tap the moulds lightly and close them with the sticks.

The final step!

Chill them in the deep freezer. Ready to serve anytime!