Here i go with my version of 'PHO'!!!

Working at Jamie Oliver's Recipease is like a dream come true. I get to teach so many different cooking lessons and at the same time learn a lot a about some of the best dishes and cuisines of the world. Vietnamese  street food was my very first lesson and and now it's one of my favorite cuisines of the world. Vietnam is known as 'the lightest cuisine of the world' and this food is getting highly popular in west for it's high nutritional values. Pho' is their national dish and they take so much pride in cooking it  and having a bowlful of it almost every single day.
Now, what is this all about? It's a perfect and complete meal in itself as it has got all that you need in your balanced diet. Protein, vitamin, calcium, carbs, starch, sugar and loads of amazing flavors, aromatic herbs and spices. All in one single bowl. When making Pho i always follow the '4-S' rule which is balancing the 4 main flavors all starting with the word S. Spice, Sweet, Sour and Salt. If you can get all those flavors balanced well , half of your battle is already won. Pho is a soup that is made out of stock. Please , i insist that we use stock instead of water and again i plead not to use those artificial stock cubes. Make your own. Doesn't take much time at all. All we need to make sure is the stock is clear. You can see in the picture above how clear my stock is, almost like water and you can see through all the contents in there.So, let's start with making a stock. I  did a vegetable Pho so i made vegetable stock. If you are doing a chicken pho then all you have to do is wash the chicken bones or even give them a quick clean up in a pot of boiling water so that  you are getting rid of all that fat and bits of flesh the bones might have that make your stock cloudy. Once the bones are all clean throw them in the pot with veggies and simmer it with lots of water for an hour. Simple!!!OK, back to our vegetable stock.
-Take a deep sauce pot  and throw in all the bits of vegetables that you do not want to be in your soup( peel of carrots, end bits of spring onions, onion peel, chunks of fresh sweet corn, brocolli stalks, sweet peppers trimmings and so on depending on what veggies you fancy using)
-throw in a few 1 inch sized pieces of ginger, crushed whole garlic and small red oninon cut in quarters and a couple of red chilies.(Red chili is the first S which is spice)
-Add 2 tbsp of dark Soy sauce for every liter of water and that is out next S- salt.
-Add 2 tbsp of vinegar which will be our 3rd S-Sour.(I prefer less vinegar and when i finish the soup i add sourness to it in the form of fresh lime juice.) Never add lemon or lime juice to anything and cook it for long as this will result in a bitter end product.
-Finally, get the final S in which is sweet. I prefer honey instead of palm sugar that they use in Vietnam or the light brown sugar that is used in most of western countries. Get 2 tbsp into the water.
-Time to get our spices into the stock. I use star anise, cinnamon, Cloves and cardamom. Throw them into the stock pot.
-Finally, lime leaves or lemon grass because it's the ultimate natural flavor enhancer for the stock.
That is all . Get it going on full heat till it comes to a boil and then simmer it down and let it boil very gently for about 30 mins.
While the stock is simmering away, time to get your veggies ready. Since fresh corn on the cob is in season now i just sliced a few chunks and threw them in my stock. Once they are cooked get them out of the stock and keep them aside. We will need them for the soup. I used green peas, carrots, green beans, sweet corn,yellow /green/red peppers and spring onion. Chop, dice and slice all the veggies.Keep them ready.
Now, taste the stock and you will see how amazing it tastes with all the ingredients in it. Strain the stock through a sieve and get it into a wok or big pot. You will get a clear stock. Add your veggies to it and let it simmer slowly. Get some rice noodles and pop them into the simmering stock with veggies. Noodles and veggies literally take 4 mins to cook not more. Do not over cook.
Finally, i check for salt and add a little if we need more. You like it more spicy then add another chili by all means. Take it off the heat and squeeze a lime or lemon into it.
I always finish my dishes, especially soups with handful of fresh herbs and here i used loads of fresh coriander and basil.We end up with this absolutely full-on good health soup. You want to add chicken to it, go ahead.Get your chicken in along with your veggies.Same with prawns or fish.
You must have or not noticed that i did not mention any oil, fat or butter to this dish because we do not need any of those bad boys. That is why i said its a bowl full of health in it.
Health food/ diet food does not have to bland or boring. It could be even better tasting than regular food.You have a big bowl of Pho and see how light your stomach feels even after it's full.
Give it a go people. You will not be disappointed.SO, Let's go and make some 'PHO'!!!

Sun blushed tomato, Spring Onion and Lime leaf Prawn Curry

I always loved taking traditional recipes and play around a bit to give it my 'touch' and this is one of the Curries i came up with recently where i used some Sun blushed or Sun dried tomatoes and Kaffir Lime leaves to enhance the flavors of the curry. Generally, we  use something citrus like lime or lemon when it comes to Sea food but i preferred  Lime leaves in this one because the  Sun -dried tomatoes provide the needed sourness and sweetness to this curry and Lime leaf will just make it taste more fresh and limey without adding any sourness to the dish. If you can't get hold of Kaffir Lime leaves then use any lime leaves that you can get your hands on.

Not a big fan of Sea food ? Chicken would taste equally good. Vegetarian? Throw in any veggies you like , they are all good. Now, Sun -dried tomatoes should be available in all major super markets and if they are not then make your own. Choose ripe and juicy tomatoes, cut them in half and rub them with some oil, coriander and chopped garlic. If you are in a country where Sun in abundant , leave the tomatoes out  in the sun till they are soft but not crispy. If you are living in a country like The UK where Sun is a luxury , just put them in an oven on very low heat.

Now for the recipe, i used mustard seeds, cumin seeds and fennel seeds for tempering( fennel goes great with sea food). 

-Get a pan on the medium flame, add some oil (some may prefer mustard oil, go for it by all means).Once the oil is hot, throw a couple of cloves, cinnamon sticks and cardamom in it.

-Throw in your mustard, cumin and fennel seeds. Once the mustard seeds start to crackle, add chopped onion, sliced white part of spring onions and turmeric powder. Keep giving the pan an occasional stir. 

-When you see the onions changing their color into sort of golden brown, add a tea spoonful of coriander powder  and a table spoon of ginger and garlic paste. ( I do not like to over power my curry sauce with lots of spices or spice powders especially when i am cooking seafood as this will ruin all those amazing flavors of fish/prawns)So, i just use Coriander powder.

-Once the ginger-garlic paste has been cooked through and you see the oil leaving the paste, time for the chopped tomatoes to go in. Now, it is very important that you add your tomatoes only after ginger and garlic paste is cooked thoroughly.

-Add the finely sliced green part of your spring onions and 4 lime leaves. Cover and cook for 5 mins.

-Once you see all the tomatoes have sort of melted away into a saucy texture add the seasoning( salt and black pepper) and then your sun dried tomatoes.I used a bit of sweet corn and green beans too to add more color and flavor to the sauce.

-Prawns take 2 minutes to cook , so i am not going to add them to the sauce and let them keep cooking as the longer they cook the rubbery they get.( I have seen in lot of Indian house holds that they cook the prawns to death which leaves them flavorless. I like mine juicy and succulent) 

-So, what i do is take a frying pan , add some oil to it and cook my prawns half way through which might take about 45 seconds on each side depending on freshness and size and then add them to the curry sauce just a minute before finishing.

-Once you are happy with you curry sauce ( you can add some coconut milk if you like your sauce creamier)

add your half cooked prawns. Let them cook for a minute and take the curry of the heat.

Sprinkle loads of fresh coriander and some fine sliced spring onions to finish. I like to give the sauce a bit of crunch so i used some toasted almonds flakes but toasted coconut flakes are even better.  

When you taste the sauce, the most wonderful part is you can get the hint of  fragrant lime but not the sourness of it.The sun-dried tomatoes give a bit of sweetness and sourness to compliment the spice.

As i always say, i just get my idea through and you are free to come up with your variations and versions.

Go for it Amigos and Amigas!!! This is worth it!!!

Simple Summer Sundae for a warm Sunday

Here comes the beautiful sun ...finally after half of the summer is gone. Better late than never. I think he was saving himself for the Olympics that are going to kick off in less than a week. The whole nation is all cheered up and geared up for the biggest sports event of the World.I hope everything goes well and we all will be proud of the event. Yayy!!!Go London!!

 Now, i am a bit pleasantly surprised that my highest hits are from The UK followed by India( thought it would be the other way round) and USA in third place and followed by Russia(this is fantastic as i have no friends in Russia at all) followed by all sorts of countries like Philippines, Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, New Zealand , Taiwan, China etc...Thank you all for checking my blog out. I quite like the International audience bit. It's been 10 days since i have posted and i got a few asking me why am i not posting anything new? This actually motivates me a lot that some of them even follow my blog on a regular basis. I also like to let everyone know that i do not  just randomly pick a recipe from any book or website and post it. I think a lot about the season, the local availability of the the ingredients or their substitutes, preparation time and the ease. I try it in my kitchen beforehand and once i am happy with the result i post it on my blog. It's all tried and tested guys!!!
I was thinking of all sorts of dishes to make today and then when i went to the local 'Taj', i just .fell in love with their fruits section and then i started building this recipe in my head. The perfect fruit and yogurt sundae. I am from South India and we always finish the rice with yogurt ,especially during summer for it's body-cooling tendencies. We quite like to add fruits to our yogurt rice,bananas being most favorite followed by Mango and Pomegranate seeds. So, I took that as my inspiration to this absolutely simple and gorgeous looking dessert. Feel free to go crazy with any kinds of fruits you like. Please, use only fresh fruits and not frozen or canned.This is such  a healthy summer dessert with loads of colors and textures.Give it a go. You will not be disappointed.

The ingredients in the photo is what i used and this is just to give you a rough idea. Sundae is all about building the layers with different colors and textures. So, i used some orange cream wafers, oatmeal cakes and broken corn flakes that end up in the bottom of the box. You can use biscuits, cookies, sponge cake, puffed rice, caramel popcorn, clusters....i don't know.The choice is endless.So this is what we use for base. I used my oatmeal cake for first layer that goes in the bottom of the glass then i built it with some raspberries and bananas to go with crunchy oatmeal cakes and layer of vanilla yogurt followed by a layer of strawberry yogurt. I used low fat out of my own choice. You can go full fat if you like yours more creamier.Then i used orange wafers for my next level followed by guava, more banana and pomegranate seeds.In goes another spoonful of both yogurts and then the final level. cornflakes(i love using frosties)Apple, banana, raspberry and and another spoonful of yogurt. To finish it all off, some guava, remaining berries, desiccated coconut, orange wafers and broken bits of cornflakes. That is all to it guys. Now, if this does not tickle your taste buds then i do not know what will.Try to get your kids involved in building it. They will love it. You can go with any flavored yogurt. You can even flavor your yogurt at home if you have plain yogurt.Try getting a bit of mango pulp or berry puree into it. As i always say, this is just an idea and you can let your imagination run wild and free.

Most important point to remember is not to make in well in advance and keep it in the fridge as this will completely ruin all the different textures as yogurt will soften them up. Get all your prep ready and assemble it just minutes before service so that every spoon has a bite to it. Please do try it and feel free to give me your feedback.Keep the summer rolling fellas....

My new play school

My brand new Play Station

getting all ready for my first lesson

It's been a while since i posted in my blog. I do apologize but last 10 days i was busy getting  trained to be the first Indian 'Food Champion' ever at the very famous 'Recipease by Jamie Oliver'.  Yes, that's my new job title and i absolutely love it. When i start something new, i try to focus on it completely and this time i started 2 new activities in the same week. One is my new job and the other is my new fitness club. I am loving both of them as i am a strong believer of 'eat healthy,live healthy' concept. So, after a week of training and observation i was allowed to do teach my very first lesson today on the amazing 'Vietnamese street food' and also i got trained today on home made pasta. So, i was teaching and learning on the same day and as i always say' Teaching is a way of learning!!!   I never tried Vietnamese food before but to be honest i fell in love with the whole concept, flavors, ingredients and visual appeal apart form being one of the most healthy cuisines in the world. The famous 'Pho'  is a bowlful of health,aroma, flavors and texture. I shall post the recipe very soon as soon as i come up with my version of it. I still need to get my head around the real names of the Vietnamese dishes as they are a bit hard to remember unlike the dishes that are so easy to make. In the picture below you can see the Pork mince balls on a bed of crunchy salad vegetables and rice noodles, a bowl of light and fragrant beef 'Pho' soup , Summer rolls with Prawns and vegetables with a Sweet and Spicy dip. All this were done form scratch in an hour. So, it's not at all hard to make them at home.

Next, was my pasta lesson. I was always scared of making home made pasta because i was not very sure of my  pasta making skills but today i was doing it fresh along with the guests while the other chef was teaching . By the end of the class i made 4 different pastas (Linguine, Spaghetti, Farfalle and Fettuccine) and cooked them using a fresh cherry tomato, basil,garlic and red chili sauce, finishing with generous amounts of Parmesan cheese and trust me Pasta never tasted better than this before. I realized what  difference fresh pasta can make to the visual appeal and taste of the dish when compared to the pastas we buy in the supermarket form a shelf or precooked pastas from fridge. I was pleasantly surprised when i realized that it was not hard at all to make pasta fresh. It could be done in 15 minutes and all you need is a small table top pasta rolling machine. I felt so happy looking at my fresh pasta and it was like this feeling when you learn your first rhyme in kindergarten and can't wait for you to get home and recite it to your mom.I just said to myself, if pasta is this easy to make and tastes so good when made fresh, why am i going to supermarkets to buy them off the shelf? That's it!!!No more dry pasta or machine made pasta for me from the shelves. It's all going to be fresh and hand made. This decision will be my way of showing  respect to all those passionate Italians who love and live fresh home made pasta.Bellissimo!!!!

A bowlful of good health!!

Simple chicken, vegetable and rice noodle sweet and sour soup.

I quite disagree when some people say soup is a form of starter or appetizer. Some even go to the extent of calling it 'Patient's food'. Well, i agree to disagree because a soup can be a complete nutritious meal and also in most of the Countries it is eaten as a full meal. It is amazing to see that the choice of soups are endless and every country has it's own versions. Be it the famous Japanese Ramen or Miso soups, Chinese Hot and Sour, Italian Minestrone, Thai Tom Yum , Indian Rasam and famous Mulligatawny, French Onion Soup, American Chowders , Fanesca of Ecuador, British Leek and Potato or Spanish Gazpacho, they are all different and great in their own ways. So, you can never get bored of making a soup or run out of choices.Forget following a recipe, you can create your own soup in no time with some veggies form your fridge and spices, herbs, lentils, rice, noodles, pasta, canned beans or sweetcorn ,whatever you may fancy. Let your imagination take over and taste buds tickle. Very very rarely you could go wrong with a soup. It's simple to make and healthy on stomach. So, next time you want to dial for a delivery or a takeaway and wait for an hour for it to be delivered think of cooking a bowlful of health and nutrition for yourself and your family.

 The soup i cooked this evening (in the photo above) is a basic sweet and sour chicken and vegetable noodle soup with coriander. It took me 20 minutes to make it and trust me, it was one of the most delicious soups i ever cooked and my stomach felt so light even after 2 bowlfuls of it. So, try your own soup and do let me know how did it go.
P.S. Keep in mind not to over cook the ingredients, especially vegetables as this will result in loss of some of the essential nutrients and also try not to use lots of heavy cream or butter to cook a soup.

Simple Stir-Fry in Chinese 5 spice Sauce

Stir-fry is one of the easiest and healthy methods of cooking and also one of my most favorites.This cooking technique has emerged from China and it basically means to toss the ingredients in a very hot wok(if you do not have a wok, use a deep frying pan) really quick and the add the liquid and cover for a minute or two to finish the dish.The whole cooking process will not take more than 10 minutes.The vegetables remain crisp and meat remains succulent in this cooking process.You can serve it piping hot with either noodles or rice.So, lets try  this easy recipe out.I am using Chinese 5 spice powder to to flavor my sauce along with some soy sauce.Chinese 5 spice powder is readily available in the super markets but its not hard to make it at home.It is a mix of star anise, fennel, cinnamon, cloves and Sichuan Pepper.I quite love the flavor and aroma of star anise so i use more star anise than the other 4 ingredients while making the 5 spice powder. Dry roast them and blend them into a fine spice powder.There is an Indian 5 spice too that is most commonly used in Bengali cooking and it's called 'panch phoran' but it's used as a whole spice mix and not powdered.OK, let's get back to China for now.

THE CHOP-CHOP STUFF
Ginger, garlic,spring onion and red chili -fine chop
Onions, tomatoes, mushrooms- Slice
Baby corn ,mix peppers- bite size cubes
Bok choy or pak choy(if you cant get hold of this,use any cabbage leaves shredded)-the trick is not to ass the leafy part till the end.Add the stalk with rest of the veggies
Boneless Chicken- cubes
As i always say use any veggies you want. Carrots , broccoli, sweetcorn ,all make a great stir-fry.
Apart from the the above you will need sesame oil, Chinese 5 spice powder,fennel, dark soy sauce, sugar,salt and pepper.

THIS IS HOW I DO IT
-Heat the wok or deep frying pan(it really has to be smoky hot even before you add the oil). This is a very old Chinese technique called 'chao'  which technically means 'hot work, cold oil'.
-Once the wok is hot add sesame oil.
-Stir in fennel seeds, chopped garlic, ginger , red chili and spring onions to the hot oil, lift the pan and toss to ensure that they don't burn.
-After 30 seconds  add chicken and stir while you sear the meat off.Stir-fry for a minute.This will ensure that the meat will remain tender and succulent.
-Add all your veggies and keep stirring and tossing for another couple of minutes.Once the peppers are half done, it's time for the Chinese 5 spice powder ,salt,pepper and soy sauce.
-I add a tsp of sugar to balance out the acid and spice but its a personal choice.
-Finally, add a little amount  of liquid, water or stock and cover with a lid just for a minute or two.If you prefer a thick sauce then use corn flour mixed in water and add it to the pan.
-Once the lid is off, taste for seasoning and the tenderness of veggies and meat.Then add the bok choy leaves to finish.This is pretty much it.
-Serve it hot with either rice or noodles and garnish it with spring onion and coriander leaves.

Pasta, Peppers, Pomodoro and Passion

I decided to clean my fridge today before i went to the market to get my weekly grocery supplies. I found some mix peppers(capsicum), tomatoes, carrots, French beans and peas,all the fresh summer vegetables that can be grown in the garden or bought from the local produce markets. I thought of doing a quick, easy and tasty pasta dish using these vegetables and decided to use Fusilli. You can choose any kind of pasta you like. I prefer to add a bit of 'zing' to my dish so i decide to use red chili to compliment the sweetness of peppers and carrots and also cumin seeds to compliment tomatoes.This is so easy to make and tastes absolutely  fantastic. My flat mate Ben likes growing herbs in our living room balcony window where i  pick some fresh basil, coriander and parsley. Those who can't get hold of fresh herbs,there is always dried and packed herbs in the supermarkets.I personally like thyme, oregano and basil for my tomato based pasta sauce. OK, let's get cooking now.

THE ART OF COOKING PASTA...
Simple!! Get water into a stock pot and cover it with a lid. Wait until it starts boiling and add olive oil and salt.Make sure there is more than double the amount of water to the amount of pasta. Get the pasta into the boiling water and let it cook for 7-8 mins giving it an occasional  stir. Bite into it to check if its cooked. Pasta is no good if it's over cooked or under cooked. It has to be cooked 'al dente'.(literally means to the tooth.It has to be cooked through but still offer a resistance when you bite into it.) Once the pasta is cooked ,drain it with the help of a strainer and run some cold water through to stop further cooking. Add some oil so that pasta doesn't stick to each other. That's about it.


THIS IS HOW I DO IT... 
As i always say, you can use any vegetable you like but i like my dish to have a balance of flavors and colors.Hence, i choose my vegetables and other ingredients based on that balance. I used mix peppers, carrots, green beans, peas and tomatoes, garlic, red chili, thyme, basil and oregano and cumin seeds.
-While your pasta is on the stove, cut the peppers, carrots and beans. (you can blanch the carrots and beans in advance)
-Rough chop garlic and red chili and tomatoes.
-Heat a pan, add olive oil and when hot throw in the cumin seeds. Once they crackle, add garlic and red chili.Stir for a minute.
-Add your mix peppers and cook till they are half done(i always like my peppers to be crisp and not over cooked) and then add in the rest of vegetables(if they are pre-cooked if not add them along with the peppers).
-Get your chopped tomatoes(along with the juice) into the pot and then add herbs. Cover the pan/pot with a lid and leave it to cook for about 4 mins. Give it an occasional stir and then when you see that the tomatoes are pretty much dissolved and becomes a bit saucy , add your seasoning and take the pot off stove.
TIP-TOP TIP

Now, never mix pasta and sauce together in the same pot and leave it as pasta will soak all the sauce in and this results in a very dry looking pasta. Always. take only as much pasta as you want for the moment and enough sauce and mix it in the last minute just before serving.
THE GRAND FINALE
Take a sauce pan, take some of the pasta sauce and add in the cooked pasta (you must have enough sauce just to coat the entire pasta) and give it a quick stir till the entire pasta is coated with sauce.
*The sauce should coat  the pasta , the pasta should not float in the sauce.
Dish it out and sprinkle some fresh basil to finish. You can use some freshly grated Parmesan as well if you prefer a 'cheesy pasta' and finally like my Italian Friends say 'BUON APPETITO!'