Corn, Spinach and Egg fried Rice with Chinese 5 spice mix

I am a big fan of 'wok' and love to use it in my kitchen as much as possible. To me, it is one of the 'must haves' in the kitchen. Today being a bit rainy and cold i was not in a mood to step out and decided to make do with whatever i could gather in my kitchen. There is always corn in my fridge as most of you who follow the blog must have already guessed,spinach and some frozen mix veggies . I have eggs, rice , onion and garlic and some spice mixes. So, i decided i will cook egg fried rice and add some lovely veggies to it and spice it up a bit with hot sesame oil and    Chinese five spice powder.This again is  one of the simplest and delicious dishes to make.Let's look at the ingredients.

Basmati Rice, Sweet Corn, Carrots, Green Peas, Chopped Spinach, Chopped Onion, Chopped Garlic, Spring onions, Eggs, (about an egg for 100gms of rice), Soy sauce, Sesame oil, (i am using the one that has been infused by ginger and chili hence i didn't use these ingredients separately but you can use plain oil and add chopped ginger and red chili to your onion and garlic) and Chinese 5 spice powder.
That's all it takes to make this delicious rice dish.
Cooking the Rice...
Lot of them who attend my cooking lessons ask me about easiest way to cook rice and i always give them what i call the 'blind method'. This is when you actually follow the same steps of cooking pasta when cooking rice. Without measuring water to rice just take as much as 3 times more water to rice and let it boil with salt. Wash your rice 3-4 times to get as much starch washed off as possible, Add the rice to the boiling water and keep giving it an occasional stir and once you feel that the rice  is 90% cooked just strain all the rice into a colander  or strainer and let all the water drain away. Get a sauce pan with water on the stove again and put the colander or strainer with rice on it making sure that the water doesn't touch the rice and let the steam cook the rest of 10% of the rice. Cover the rice when its back on stove. That's it! You get lovely non sticky and not over cooked rice.

The Fried -Side Story....

Once the rice is cooked and set to cool on the side, get the wok on full heat and add sesame oil. Once the oil heats up quickly drop garlic, spring onions and onion and give it a really quick stir so that the garlic does not burn. Add the veggies but not spinach and stir fry them for a couple of minutes. Add the chopped spinach , soy sauce and Chinese five spice powder and crack the egg into the wok. Let the egg cook for about a minute before you stir it and break it as if making scrambled eggs. After 30 seconds , add the rice, salt and pepper and mix it all up well really quick. Add Basil leaves and some coriander to finish.This entire stir frying process should take not more than 5 minutes starting form heating up the oil. Always ensure that the wok is on full heat and you keep stirring the ingredients from time to time so that they don't burn or stick to the bottom. This rice tastes great when it's served piping hot right form the wok and also acts as great accompaniment to lot of simple curries or stir fry sauce based dishes.Give it a go, it takes lesser time than delivery form your local take away.

Spicy Sweet Corn and Fennel Fritters with Sweet Chili garlic sauce.

I am a big fan of corn and this is always on my list of vegetable shopping. In season i always buy them fresh on the cob and in winter  i will make do with frozen sweet corn. I just love the sweetness in it and it could be used in so many wiays when it comes to cooking. So, i got some fresh corn for my fritters this time.
This recipe is more like the recipe of 'Pakoras' or 'Bhajis' but for the first time i tried using self-raising flour instead of gram flour or besan that is used traditionally.This thought suddenly struck me as gram flour upsets my stomach and i was looking for the next best alternative and remembered that my Mom used to make these lovely 'Pakoras' using plain flour instead of gram flour and they tasted great but the only problem was they got all rubbery when they became cold. So, i tried self- raising flour and it worked great.
Another change that i made was i did not deep fry them, i just shallow fried them in pan and that worked well too. This is so easy to prep and cook. So, give it a try.


What does it take....to make
Sweet Corn (fresh or frozen)
Green Peas
Mix Peppers
Carrots

Coriander leaves
Ginger
Garlic
Onion
Green Chilies
Fennel Seeds
Cumin Powder
Coriander Powder
Salt
Self-raising Flour(in case you can't find it ,use plain flour and some baking powder.Every 100 gms of flour will take 10gms of baking powder.
Now, you must be thinking how come i did not mention water to mix the flour.No, we are not using any water to make this mix. We will use all the moisture in the veggies and make this mix.
Ok, let's begin....
Get a bowl and cut all the vegetables into small pieces and if its whole corn on the cob then get the kernels out. Chop ginger, garlic and chili.
Then add the veggies to it, fennel seeds, cumin powder,coriander powder and salt. Add a handful of flour to the veggies and kind of squeeze the vegetables while mixing with flour so that they release enough moisture to    form into a thick batter.

Once the batter mix is ready, it should be sticky but not too wet or too dry.Add more flour if its too wet and a dash of water if too dry. Get some water in a bowl so that you can wet your hands when you are making the patties out of the mix.
Get a frying pan on the heat and pour enough oil just to cover the entire bottom of the pan.
Once the oil is hot , make lime sized balls out of batter and press them in between your palms so they look like patties and do not forget to wet your hands for every ball.
Drop them into the oil and cook in each side till they are brown and crisp.Do not cook them on high flame as they will result in browning out side but raw inside. Cook them on a medium flame.
Once they are done, drain them on kitchen towel and serve them hot with some sweet chili garlic sauce.
Now, making this sauce at home is very easy. Get some dry chili flakes or fresh chopped red chili and some chopped garlic. Use brown sugar/palm sugar and little bit of water to make it into a syrup and add some vinegar to it.Finally add chili  and garlic and give it a boil.The dip is ready. Sprinkle some fresh coriander leaves on top and eat them while they are hot. It's not just the flavors that i love about this snack,i love the colors too. They look so appetizing.Go on fellas.....you know you want them.

My Very Berry Pancakes

As i promised in my previous blog, here is my recipe that is really easy to make and kids will love to get involved and they will love eating them as well. My very berry Pancakes. I already started getting responses from parents ,mothers especially about getting their kids involved in kitchen and they said that kids really enjoyed it and sent me some photos as well. Will post them in my next blog. Now, lets get back to these yummy pancakes. These are so unbelievably  easy to make that a seven year old girl made them for her mother in my class today. Her mom had tears of joy in her eyes right after the first bite. It was a moment of emotion for me too.I would say weigh all the ingredients and get them ready for kids and help them while whisking egg whites and cooking them. They can easily do the rest. I am using fresh berries as they are in season now but they can be easily replaced with any other fruit. Bananas, mangoes, pineapple ,peaches, plums, coconut...and the list goes on. You will also see that i am not using any sugar in the recipe except a sprinkle of icing sugar in the end but that's optional.Let's get into the recipe now.

IN THE ORDER OF APPEARANCE....
Plain Flour- 115 gms
Baking Powder-2 tsp
Medium Eggs- 3
Milk- 140 ml
Salt- a pinch
Vanilla essence- 1 tsp
Butter- 40 gm
Mix Berries- 100gms
Honey- 50 gms(you can use maple syrup if you feel like it but i replaced it with a healthier substitute)
Icing Sugar- 10 gms
That is all it takes to make 6 amazing pancakes.

THIS IS HOW WE DO IT....
-Add baking powder to plain flour and mix well.
-Break the eggs and separate yolks and whites in 2 different bowls.
-Make sure there is no yolk at all  in the whites as this will not let whites become fluffy and stiff when whisking.
-Add a pinch of salt to the whites.
-With a fork gently beat the yolks just to ensure that they are all mixed well.
-Add Vanilla essence to the yolks and mix well.
-Make a well in the center of flour and add the yolks to it.
-Add half of the milk and mix it well using a whisk to form a thick paste. Use a whisk to do this and always whisk in one direction, clockwise or anti clockwise to trap the air in.
-Add the rest of the milk and mix well till it forms a smooth batter with no lumps.Wash the whisk and this is important before you beat the egg whites.
-Now, time for adults to jump in and whisk the egg whites. It takes some time and energy to get the whites into a nice foamy, white, stiff soft peak consistency. If you are not sure what i am talking about then just whisk until all the egg whites turn into thick foam like in the bubble bath and when you lift it with whisk the whites should just stick to the whisk and not fall into the bowl. If you are still not sure then the best trick is to turn the bowl upside down over your head and if the egg whites do not fall then they are ready. Do it at your own  risk. What if the egg whites fall down? Simple. Clean up and get fresh eggs ;-)
-Once your whites are ready, add them slowly to the yolks and with the help of whisk or spatula mix them together gently and again just in one direction.
That's it. Your mix is ready.

LET'S PAN THE CAKES....
-Get a non stick pan on medium heat and add a little bit of butter. You can do 2 pancakes at a time in a medium size pan.
-Once the butter has melted and starts bubbling get a ladle full of the mix and slowly drop it into the pan.Cook them on a low flame and once you see that the little air bubbles start bursting on the top, its time to get the berries on.Now, i make a stack of  3 pancakes, so i make a plain one, mix berry one and one with the berries i like most and i used raspberries for that.Just to give the pancakes a different color and texture.Just like in the photo.

-Once the pancakes are golden brown on one side them flip them over and cook  gently. It takes a minute to minute and half on each side.
- Flip the pancakes and see if both sides are golden brown, if they are then it's time for them to go onto the plate.
- To make it more interesting i make a 3 pan cake stack with berries in between each pancake as well.As i suggested earlier you can use any fruits your kids like.
-Time for the honey or maple syrup to go all over the pancakes and a little dusting of icing sugar and here we go with a stack of fresh and fluffy home made pancakes.
-They have milk, eggs, honey and fruits and they are all good for your kids.
-Eat them hot and always share. Remember, to share is to care.What are you waiting for???Let's get breakfast going.

For Kids sake....

Today i taught my first Kids cooking lesson. I know my work is being appreciated a lot by the adults but i was not sure if i will appeal to the kids. These kids are all below 12 years and they were so excited to do their own pasta from scratch. They paid so much attention to the class and took cooking pretty seriously. In the begining i thought they will call their parents and ask them for help but no one did. I am quite impressed and the moment of the day was when they asked the parents to taste it. The happiness in their little eyes once they cooked the pasta and the pride on the parents faces,it all adds up to my motivation at work.Those Kids and parents were so thankful after the lesson and everyone took some photos with me before they went home.Here, i would like to specially thank those amazing parents who got their kids involved in such a great event. Also a million thanks to my boss Jamie Oliver for insisting that parents should get their kids involved in cooking and also need to know what is right and what is wrong when it comes to eating habits and coming up with lessons for kids.I am looking forward to teach another 2 lessons for kids this week. It's so much fun cooking with kids because un knowingly the kid inside you will come out too.So, parents please let your kids  get involved in good food be it at home or at school.

I work right opposite to a famous American fast food chain and there are 2 more next to my work place. Sometimes, i keep looking out to see the amount of kids, teenagers and adults that keep going in and out of those  fast food giants. I see this middle aged obese man almost every second day walking into this store and walks out with a 'bucket' of fried food. What hurts me more is to see that he brings his 2 kids along every second day and feeds them the fried food. These kids are not older than 10 and both of them are obese just like their dad. What i fail to understand is this guy knows he is over weight and i am sure he faces a few health issues but he still would feed the same food to his kids.I do not why understand why does he not think? Aerated drinks just add fuel to the fire.I see those kids holding large glasses of those aerated drinks.There can be 1000 reasons that one might want to give why they can't give their kids fresh and healthy home made food but not even one of those reasons would be worth their kid's health. I am not saying that we should completely stop taking our kids to those fast food chains.Even i have craving for it once in a while and i do go and eat but i limit it to once a month. I want parents to do the same. Make this visit a special one. Make it once or twice a month and let the kids feel special that you took them there for a treat. I am not going to be a hypocrite here and say everyone in my family follows a very healthy and planned diet when it comes to their kids but i do keep talking to them and educate them more and more and i have seen the change. A slow change but there is always the beginning. I do not want things to change over night either because kids love their favorite fast food and you cant take it off from them right away. Start decreasing the quantity and number of times you take them every month.

There is something else that bothers me. Buying ready made baby food and feeding the baby is something i will never approve or agree.Why is it so hard to mash some potatoes? Is it so hard to puree some parsnips?Is it so hard to blend some apple and banana? I am sure most of us would agree that there was no ready made baby food in the market when we were babies. Our mothers took a great pride and responsibility in  making fresh food 3 times a day for us when we were babies just to make sure that we get the best.Also they would follow a good diet plan to see that we all got all the nutrients through food and we all grew up healthy. If this could happen 20-30 yrs back it could happen now too.My mother feeds her 3 year old grandson the same what she used to give us when we were kids. He is allowed to have a treat once in a while but what i see is he never complains or cries for chocolates or fast food.This,to me is great.We could always say that working parents have no time to cook. I disagree. I will again give an example from my family. My cousin lives in London with this wife and 18 month old son.Both of them work 5 days a week. Saranya, my cousin's wife is not a great cook. In fact she struggles in kitchen.But, i have never ever seen her going and buying baby food off the supermarket shelf.She makes sure she cooks his food every single day and 2 times in spite of going to work.Whenever i visit them she asks me questions about what can she do with the vegetables she has at home for Dhruv(my nephnew).This little one loves yogurt. So, she tries to hide the veggies under the yogurt and feed him . I am really proud of her.

To me kids are kids, anywhere in the world. So, what i learnt today is kids do love a bit of cooking and eating home made food if encouraged by parents.I taught 8 kids today all from different countries and ethnic backgrounds and they all were equally excited and equally delighted.All they need is a bit of encouragement. At the same time i see a father taking his kids to a fast food restaurant every second day. So, parents role is very important when it comes to eating habits of kids.Please do cook more often at home and get kids involved in helping. Parents need to change before they try to teach kids because kids always look upon their parents while growing up and try to follow them. I decided that i will keep posting some easy recipes that parents  follow and kids can enjoy eating.This will be my commitment through this blog. I do salute all the parents who take the food of their kids seriously and to others i request to THINK.For the sake of our Kids and future generations. Thanks for reading.

My mouth watering Indonesian Satay with Peanut Soy Dip

If there is one dish that would make my mouth water just by listening to mere  name of it then it has to be the famous 'Satay'. Countries like Thailand and Malaysia claim that it's their own creation, it's strongly believed that it has originated from Indonesia and I quite agree with it. Satay has actually been adapted from Indian Kebabs on Skewers which again is an influence of Persia.When the traders traveled from India to Indonesia in search of the famous Spice Islands they made these Kebabs very popular there and since Indonesia has some best countries surrounding it , it took a bit of inspiration for all those countries and came up with their own version of grilled meat on sticks and called it 'Satay'. This dish became an instant hit and was featured on all the restaurant menus and road side eating places and then traveled all over the world making the country very proud. It was so popular that it was declared as the 'National Dish' of Indonesia.This , to me is one of the most easiest dishes to cook and especially when you are expecting friends or guests over as it hardly takes any time or effort to make it. I am using chicken for my recipe but you can use just some crisp vegetables for vegetarian version and King Prawns if you are big fan of sea food. Now, i do not expect every one to have a grill or barbecue at home. This can be cooked in the oven and in case you do not have an oven just pan fry them. They will still taste absolutely amazing.Let's start with the marinade.
-You need garlic,ginger, spring onions ,red chili and onions all chopped up.
-Get some roasted peanuts or roast some peanuts (take the husk off once they are roasted).
p.s. you can even use peanut butter.
-Get the peanuts into a blender and add the ginger, garlic, spring onions, red chili and onions to it and blend adding a little bit of water to make it into a thick roughly ground paste. You still need to taste the bits of roasted peanuts in the sauce.
 (Now, a bit of history. A lot of South Indians especially Tamilians migrated to Indonesia during the Dutch rule and Indonesia was then knows as The Dutch East Indies. I am pretty sure that this peanut chutney has been the influence of Tamil Cuisine in Indonesia as this Chutney is very famous till today in South India and is a great accompaniment for famous South Indian snacks or breakfast dishes such as Idlis, Dosas, Vadas etc.. My mom makes a great peanut chutney though i prefer the one that's made with fresh coconut.)
-Back to the recipe now, Once the paste is done , get that into a pan from blender and add some sugar and sweet  soy sauce. If you cant find the Indonesian soy sauce use the dark soy that's available in the market.
-cook this paste slowly adding a little water at a time if you see that it is sticking to the bottom of the pan.
-Add salt and check for taste. It should taste spicy, gingery, sweet and nutty. Cook for about 5 mins and take the pan off the stove.
-Chicken, i strongly suggest thigh rather than breast. Thigh has more flavor than breast the reason being it has fat. Fat really helps the chicken to get a great flavor especially when cooking involves oven roasting /grilling or pan frying. Take the skin and the bone off and cut the meat into cubes. I would cut one thigh into not more than 4 pieces.
-Rub the chicken pieces with turmeric powder(another Indian influence) and then smear the peanut paste over them . Make sure that chicken is completely covered with peanut paste and get the pieces onto the bamboo skewers(soak the skewers in cold water before you get chicken on them so that they stay moist while in the oven or pan and will not burn or break.)
-Also make sure you do not use all the peanut paste, keep half of it for your dip.
-Get them into a baking tray lined with grease proof paper or place them on the iron mesh with the tray underneath to collect all the dripping juices if cooking in oven.
-If you are planning to pan fry them then just get the chicken onto a plate and refrigerate them for an hour.
-Best way to cook it is to use a charcoal grill but as i said  earlier if you do not have one no need to worry.Oven or pan is good enough. But, if you can get your hands on the use and throw barbecue that we use on the beaches ,nothing like it.
-While the chicken is cooling off in the fridge, we make our sauce.
-Very simple. Get a pan, heat some oil. Add some chopped onion, garlic and ginger and the remaining peanut paste. Add more soy sauce and water. Check for seasoning and once you are happy with it let it come to a quick boil and when you see that it formed into a smooth sauce take it off the stove and add some coriander leaves.That's all there is to it.
Now, cooking the chicken. If you are using an oven pre heat it to 220 degrees Celsius and get the chicken in it and keep turning every 3 minutes brushing it with a bit of oil every time you turn. It will not take more than 10 minutes to cook the chicken through.
-If you are using a pan, just a little bit of oil in it, heat it and let your skewers sit in the pan and keep turning them every 2 mins on medium heat. Keep brushing them with some peanut sauce every time you turn them for more flavor. Check after 5 mins and the chicken should be pretty much cooked.
-Do the same if you are cooking them the grill. Keep turning them and paste them with oil and satay sauce.
-Once they are all cooked, get them into a plate, sprinkle some chopped spring onions and serve them hot with the lovely peanut soy sauce which is popularly known as 'satay' sauce.
- All it takes is about 30 mins of prep and cooking time and an hour or marinating time and this my friends, is the time more than worth it for those lovely and absolutely delicious 'Satay' skewers.