Rasaswad

I wanted to use up left over phyllo, so made a small batch of baklava. It turned out great. Mostly followed this recipe, but didn't measure anything: https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/michael-symon/baklava-recipe-1972768 Cut some of the sheets in three, and had about 8-10 sheets per layers. For the filling, process walnuts, pistachios and almonds with a slice of leftover Challa bread and cinnamon. So prepare two layers of the filling between three layers of the dough (with the usual butter). Cut into diamond shape. Bake till golden brown. Heat about 1 cup sugar, 1/2 cup water and 1/4 cup of honey and boil till slightly thick. Squeeze some lemon juice and boil another minute or two. Pour over warm baklava and leave overnight.

Here's a nice care package idea: Stuffed shells, ready to be baked, garlic bread, asparagus with pesto, corn chowder, and brownies. Stuffed Shells: Wash, de-stem and finely chop 1 bunch swiss chard. Dice 1 small-medium onion and 1 or two cloves of garlic. Heat some oil in a pan, add red onion, saute till soft, add the garlic, a pinch of oregano, a pinch of red chilli flakes, salt and pepper. Add chopped swiss chard and saute till it completely shrinks down and is dry. Remove in a large bowl and let cool completely. Add 1 15 oz container of whole milk ricotta, about 1/2 cup each of grated romano and parmesan cheese each, 1 egg, a couple table spoons of chopped parsley and basil, a pinch of oregano, red pepper flakes, granulated garlic, salt, and pepper. Mix everything properly. Boil 1 12oz.  pack jumbo shells in a large pot of salted water (9 minutes). Drain and let the shells cool for a bit. In a 9X12 baking pan, spread a few spoons of marinara sauce (I used Rao's classic m

Rakshabandhan, or Balev as we know it in my mom's side of the family, has always been a huge affair. From an emotional standpoint, it's  bigger than Diwali. The whole family would get together, and then the Rakhi ritual would be carried out in multiple rounds, by generation. When my grandmom was alive, her brothers would come visit to get rakhis tied. Then my two mamas, dressed in crisp white kurta-pajamas, would sit next to each other, and mom and the two masis would take turns to tie them rakhis. Till this day, my younger mama doesn't eat anything on the day of Balev until at least one of the sisters has tied him Rakhi. It was never spoken, but you could sense the silent, solemn renewal of promise between all five siblings of always being there for each other. Then it was our generation's turn. The five brothers, grudgingly dressed in kurtas and the gold chains that were worn about twice a year, would sit in a row, and the seven sisters, dressed in their finest dress

https://homemadeforelle.com/homemade-chantilly-cupcakes/ L. Made two batches of these to celebrate the extended party for my big 40. For the batter for each batch, cream 11/2 sticks butter,  11/2 cup sugar, then add 3 eggs, one at a time, then 1 tsp vanilla, 1 tbsp baking powder, and then alternate 1 cup milk and 23/4 cup flour. For the frosting, beat together an 8 oz pack of mascaporne, and 1 small container cream (2 cups), 1/4 cup sugar, and a tsp vanilla. He wanted to make them even more special, so he added some frozen berries at the bottom of the cupcake before adding the batter. Friends' kids helped decorating. They were amazing!

Peel Fava beans, cook in salted water for 4 mins, then shock in cold water and peel the beans. Slice fresh radishes. Clean Watercress. Make a dressing (I did white balsamic, olive oil, salt and pepper). Add some fresh mint and some diced mozerella (feta might have been nice too). Serve on top of grilled bread.

Great start to July:  Grate whole corn on a box grater. Heat ghee, add mustard seeds, curry leaves, green chilii and ginger paste, and add grated corn + milk. Stir and cook, add salt, a pinch of sugar. Serve warm, garnished with lemon juice, cilantro and coconut. 

Peel and dice raw mangoes. Add sugar to taste, grind without water in a vitamix. Add some black salt and roasted  cumin powder. Freeze in a jar. Add some water and turn into a refreshing drink on demand. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SAdG3E5xY4

It's a great summer treat: A nice, medium size eggplants without seeds. And when you get one, here's an fantastic treat you can cook up: Slice the eggplant fairly thin. Mix rice flour, sooji, salt, turmeric powder, red chilli powder, dhania powder, garam masala, amchoor, chaat masala, a pinch of hing, some ginger and garlic paste, a few drops of oil and some water to turn it all into a thick paste. Heat some oil in a flat pan (I used peanut oil). Coat the eggplant slices and shallow fry in the pan. Serve warm. It's super crispy and yummy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUh4sGmIoyo

5 minute wonder! Slice the zucchini into semi circles. Heat a tsp of coconut oil, add mustard seeds, urad daal, whole red chilli, curry leaves, hing, and haldi. Add the zuccini and saute. Add salt. Once the zucchini softens just a bit, add coconut (frozen, thawed in microwave). Let the coconut brown ever so slightly. Take off the heat, and squeeze a bit of lime. Yum! 

Super simple, and super yummy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cq0oQ9Yu9_M I used white sweet potato. Boil, peel, mash. Heat ghee, add the pulp, saute for a couple of minutes, add milk, some water, sugar, cardamom, saffron milk and almonds. Serve.

Super Satisfying Sandwiches: Inspired by this (but modified it a lot): https://smittenkitchen.com/2014/10/squash-toasts-with-ricotta-and-cider-vinegar/ Cut a Kabocha squash into quarters, rub a tsp of oil and some kosher salt all over and roast in a 350 degrees oven till golden brown on the edges. Scoop out the flesh from one of the quarters (I actually ate it with some butter and maple syrup when it was fresh out of the oven, and used the leftovers for the sandwich). Two nice and thick slices of good sourdough bread. Mustard and Mayo, squash chunks, sprinkle a bit of feta cheese, drizzle a bit of maple syrup carefully over the squash, and some crushed black pepper. Finally, add of bit of grated mozzarella, to act as glue. Now on a heated iron tava, add a bit of butter, add the sandwich, out a few more knobs of butter on top. Cover with a foil and put weight (like a panini). Cook on low to medium on both sides, and serve hot.

It started with using up whatever I had in the pantry, but it turned out so good, I'm going to go and seek out the ingredients the next time. Here's what I did: Prep: Drain organic firm tofu on paper towels. Grind about 4-5 dried shitake mushrooms into a fine powder, and put it in a bowl, and add some water. Set aside. Grind about 4-5 garlic cloves and one inch of ginger. Cut into big chunks - 1 Onion, half a red pepper, slice a carrot and a zucchini. Cut about 10-15 mushrooms into quarters. Dice the spring onion. All the veggies and Tofu were organic, which did help, I think. Open a can on straw mushroom and a small one of sliced bamboo shoots. In a morter and pestle, crush a few sichuan peppers. Open a jar of Lee Kum Kee brand Guizhou black bean chilli sauce (which I think came from HMart). In a wok, heat some oil, add the tofu and let it brown from a few different sides. Take it out an drain on a paper towel.Add a bit more oil, add crushed ginger-garlic, spring onion, o

This is a basic paneer filling that I use in many different ways - for wraps, as a toaster sandwich filling, and even a dosa filling. It's flexible, in that you can use a variety of veggies on hand. Heat oil, add jeera, sliced onions, strips of carrots, peppers, cabbage, etc. Also white parts of spring onion, sliced on a bias, if you have them on hand. Add ginger - garlic (fresh or paste is fine too). Saute for a couple of minutes. Add some shezuan sauce, a dash of soy sauce, turmeric, red chilli powder, coriander-cumin powder, some ketch up, a dash of tomato paste, chat masala, and salt. Also add spring onion green, chopped mint (this makes it pretty awesome), and some cilantro. Finally add long strips of paneer. Mix it till everything coats the paneer, and turn off the gas. For toaster sandwich: Apply some green chutney and tamarind chutney on bread, add the filling, sprinkle some chaat masala, and grate some sharp cheddar. Cover with another piece of bread, apply butter, an

Celebrating the goodness of simple and wholesome ingredients brought by our farmers' harvests. After having this chikki, it's hard to go back to store bought (unless of course, we're in Lonavala). This video was super useful to get it right, but I made changes and some variations: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epwGN-q45xY&t=501s I used chikki no gol (Bansi and Krutika brands). Once I used Mani brand kolhapuri gol. Was very soft to chop. 2 lbs yielded about 5 cups chopped gol, which was perfect for one full batch of all of these chikkis.  Dalia: The recipe called for 1 cup gud and 1 cup dalia, but I think it took almost 11/2 to 2 cups of dalia. Roll it with oiled rolling pin.  Once I used 3/4 cup gol and 11/2 cup dalia. Tal:  I used 1/2 cup gol and 1/2 cup polished tal for a super thin chikki.  Crushed Groundnuts: Slow roast skinless peanuts. Let cool, and coarsely grind in a mini food processor. Add cardamom. For 1 cup Gud, I think it took about 11/2 cups gr

It's my signature dish, and I can't believe I never wrote it down! It's my own recipe, and I must have made this a gajjillion times over the years. It's always a hit. Anyways, here it is: Pasta: Bring a large pot of water to boil with a good amount of salt. Boil 9 sheets of lasagna noodles, according to the pack instructions. Drain, wash with water and set aside. Red sauce layer: Boil pieces of green beans, carrots, and peas with a bit of salt, and drain. Saute quartered cremini mushrooms in a bit of butter, and add to the veggies. Add several table spoons of jarred tomato sauce, a pinch of oregano and a pinch of red chilli flakes. Ricotta layer: Mix about half a container ricotta, a big handful of grated parmesan, one small pack of grated Italian cheese, one egg, salt, black pepper, and some fresh, chopped parsley. White sauce later: Either saute several cups of chopped spinach, or thaw out one pack of frozen spinach, wring out the water, and saute in a bi