Greek Marinated Vegetable Salad – Lahanika Marinata

I had been eyeing the Greek cooking bible, Vefa’s Kitchen for years, finally got my hands on it!

In her book Vefa details out the importance of vegetarianism in their cuisine. It is said the staples of Greece today are the same as they have been for centuries, cereals, beans, greens, herbs, the olive and its oil, figs, grape, wine and cheese. Greeks ate very little meat until the second half of the 20^th century. For thousands of years meat was consumed only during feats and festivals in the honour of the many gods and goddesses of the Greek pantheon. In addition, the long history of fasting in the Greek orthodox religion which insisted upon abstention from animal products for almost a third of the year has resulted in a rich tradition of vegetable dishes cooked with olive oil. And believe me olive oil is never enough, the fresh taste of extra virgin olive oils especially in salads takes the flavours to another level.

I first tried Greek food during my days in hostel at Warwick - whatever my flatmate Aristae would put together. I was amazed to see how some of the cereals which we ate were staple food for her as well. When I started working in Delhi a quaint restaurant called “Its Greek to Me” in started in Delhi, which I would frequent, owing to light and delectable food, good cocktails and great music. Have fond memories of it. Unfortunately it shut down about a year ago.

This salad is apt for the summer season. This vibrant salad packed with freshness of mint and lemon is light on the stomach. An absolute delight!!!

This recipe is a slightly modified version of the one in the book.

 

Ingredients

1 red bell pepper cut into cubes

1 cup boiled carrots
1 cup French bean cut into small pieces
1 cup boiled cauliflower florets

Marinade

¼  tsp black pepper powder
½   tsp red chilli flakes powder
¼ cup mint leaves finely chopped
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tsp honey
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
3-4 cloves of garlic (crushed or finley chopped)
5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Salt to taste

p.s. even though I have used honey its only to balance the tartness of the vinegar – it’s not sweet at all, just a little note for all of you who steer away from sweet food!

 

Method

Marinade

·         In a mixing bowl add vinegar and lemon juice. Take a hand whisker, and whisk the mixture and slowly incorporate 3 table spoons of oil.

·         In a small pan, heat 2 tbsp of oil and add garlic. Once it has changed colour (ensure that its not brown), and turn off the fire. Now add the chilli flakes.

·         Incorporate the remaining ingredients into the marinade mixture – whisk well.

Now mix the vegetable into the marinade. Let them marinate in the refrigerator for about 3-4 hours. The traditional recipe calls for them to be marinated overnight. And the salad is ready to serve.

 

Post Script

Boiling vegetables – you don’t want to over boil vegetables. They become limp, lifeless and colourless. You want the salad to be crunchy yet not raw. I take a vessel, bring the water to boil. Add good amount of salt. This allows salt to permeate in the vegetables as well as helps retain the colour of the vegetables. Once the water has boiling, add the vegetable. It does not take more than 45 seconds to maximum a minute for hard vegetables. Take them out of the water immediately. Run them under cold water. If you leave them in water they continue to cook. Ensure you don’t cook all vegetables together. All vegetables have different times of cooking depending on the texture, and shape and size of the pieces.

You can add other vegetables as well – mushrooms, zucchini and broccoli. Please don’t boil the mushrooms and zucchini, just sauté them in a little bit of olive oil if you like them slightly cooked.

My next few posts are detail out the meal I put together yesterday for dinner. This is the first of the three posts.

Maaz Yakkhn

I have always been very fond of Kashmiri food. It’s only recently that I have tried reading more about it and tried making it myself. One of my friend’s mom makes the best Kashmiri food, owing to her roots in Srinagar.  I hope she puts those mouth-watering dishes in a book someday. Kiran Aunty this post is dedicated to you.

They say history of Kashmir's traditional cuisine, Wazwaan, dates back to the last years of the 14th century when the Mongol ruler Timur invaded India in 1348 during the reign of Nasiruddin Muhammad of the Tughlaq dynasty. As a result, there took place a migration of trained weavers, woodcarvers, architects, calligraphers and cooks from Samarkand to the Kashmir valley. The descendants of these cooks came to be known as "Wazas", who are the master chefs of Kashmir. Waan in Kashmiri meas ‘shop’. A waazwaan is literally, a cook shop or a restaurant.

Maaz Yakkhn is meat flavoured with aniseed and dry ginger powder. These two ingredients together give the very unique flavour to the dish. The book I refer to is “Traditional Kashmiri Cusine – Wazwaan” written by the renowned Waza family – Published by Roli Press in India. This is not the traditional preparation technique but a quick rendition of the recipe.

Ingredients

350g boneless mutton pieces (lamb), from the leg
150g minced mutton (coarsely minced)
 

Khara Masala

5 green cardamoms
6-8 pieces of cloves
1 black cardamom
4 inch stick of cinnamon
 

3 medium finely sliced onions

2 tbsp vegetable oil
4 tbsp ghee
2 green chillies, split in half length wise
3 large cloves of garlic
1 tbsp ginger powder
¾  tbsp aniseed powder
1 cup yoghurt
1 cup water
1 tsp dried mint powder
¾ tbsp Kashmiri chilli powder (deghi mirch)
Finely chopped coriander for garnishing
Salt to taste

Method

·         In a pressure cooker, heat vegetable oil. Add the khara masala and let it crackle.

 

Crackling spices

 

·        Add the sliced onions and sauté it till it turns light to dark brown. Do this on a low flame to ensure you don’t burn the onions.

·         Add the meat pieces to the pan. Sauté pieces for about 5 minutes stirring continuously. Now add the minced meat and ghee and continue stirring it so it does not stick to the bottom of the pan. Ensure this is on a slow flame.  Continue to sauté for about 8-10 minutes, the meat will change colour.

 

The browned meat before adding yogurt

 

·         Once the meat has changed colour add the rest of the dry spices and yoghurt and stir for another 5 minutes. Do not add salt at this stage.

·         Add one cup of water add salt to taste and close the pressure cooker, keep it on a high flame. Once you hear the whistle let it cook for another 10 minutes on slow flame. Switch off the flame, open the cooker once the pressure subsides.

·         Transfer to a serving dish and garnish with fresh green coriander.  Serve with rice and onion rings.

 

 

 

 

 Postscript: Kashmiri cooking has the concept of using cooked yogurt. They do not use yogurt directly in the preparation. Yogurt is whisked with water and cooked, stirring constantly till it reduces to half its quantity and colour changes to off white.

Mediterranean Grilled Sandwich

Oh! I so love sandwich’s…a medley of flavours stuffed between two boring slices of bread. It’s all in the filling I say, the more fun and interesting your filling the tastier your meal would be.

I thank John Montagu for his laziness and his dedication to gambling for this modest invention! According the world’s most referred food bible “Larousse Gastronomique” – Sandwiches are named after John Montagu, 4^th Earl of Sandwich, an inveterate gambler who acquired the habit of sending for cold meat between two slices of bread so that he would not have to leave the gambling table to eat. Although the name is relatively recent, dating from the beginning of the 19^th century, the concept itself is ancient. It has long been a custom in Rural France, for eg. to give farm labourers working in the fields meat for their meal enclosed between two slices of bread. Also it was customary in south-western France to give those embarking on a journey slices of cooked meat sprinkled with their juices, between two slices of bread.

Every country has their own versions varying them with the filling or the bread. This one takes inspiration from the Mediterranean flavours – chargrilled peppers doused with olive oil, parmesan cheese and basil.

You could make a vegetarian version of this sandwich by replacing the chicken with pan grilled sliced Zucchini or aubergines add half a bell pepper more.  Details at the end of the recipe.

  

Ingredients

Basil Garlic Sauce Ingredients

2 cups basil leaves
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
4-5 cloves of garlic
Salt to taste
(This makes about 2 ½ cups of sauce which you can store in the fridge for future use)

Filling Ingredients

½ roasted red bell with preserving liquid, julienned
½ roasted yellow bell with preserving liquid, julienned
1 big tomato deseeded finely julienned
¼ cup sliced onions
4-5 slices chicken salami julienned
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
¼ -½ tsp red chilly flakes (as hot as you like!)
1-2 tbsp parmesan cheese (as strong as you like it)
2 tbsp basil garlic sauce (recipe below)
Salt to taste
(click here to see how to make roasted bell peppers)

Butter / Mayonnaise to smear on the
Grated Mozzarella Cheese
Big Sandwich Bread

 

Method

Step 1: Preparing basil garlic sauce

Put all the ingredients in a food processor and whizz it all together… voila! Keep the whizzing limited, enough to just put the ingredients together.  At any point in time you can always add nuts and parmesan cheese to this to convert this into the traditional pesto.

I usually have a bottle of this stored in my fridge. It lasts easily for about a month or two, as long as it is topped well with olive oil on top. Quite similar to when you make Indian pickles you have to ensure good amount of oil in order to preserve it. As basil is not always readily available in all stores in India, make this and stock it in the fridge and it can be used when making any sauce where you need basil and garlic. It gives the same flavour and using fresh basil. Dried and frozen basil don’t seem to give that flavour ever. Basil if exposed to air it tends to darken. You should ensure there is enough oil, top up a little if you feel it’s less. Once you store it in the fridge ingredients of the sauce settle a little and let the oil come up like a layer.

If you don’t want to make this sauce, you can also substitute this by ready-made pesto sauce available in gourmet stores or sometimes even your local grocer.  

(P.S. I will add pictures for this when I make it next, for this one I had the basil sauce kept in the fridge)

 

Step 2: Preparing the filling

·         In a pan heat some olive oil and add the sliced onions to caramelize them. Once they turn change colour take them off the fire.  

·         In a bowl add all the ingredients of the filling and the remaining olive oil and mix well. Adjust the salt.

·         This filling should be enough for 3 sandwiches (6 slices of jumbo bread)

 

 

 Step 3: The Final Step

·         Take 2 slices of the bread; put a light layer of butter or mayonnaise on both sides. Spread out a generous amount of filling. Top it with grated mozzarella cheese and cover it with the second slice

·         Put it in a preheated sandwich griller for about 5-6 minutes

·         Cut and serve  

 

 

Changes for the vegetarian version - Pan-grilling Vegetables:

 

Slice the vegetable, into thin slices. Brush with olive oil, sprinkle a little salt. Place on a pre-heated grilling pan. They should be ready in about 6-7 minutes. Don’t forget the turn sides during the grilling process. Don’t mix these in the filling. Place them on the filling just before putting the mozzarella cheese. In case you do not have a grill pan you could also use a simple non-stick pan.

Zaffrani Chicken

Recently I started reading about the traditional mughlai cuisine is some of the books written my Salma Hussain who is a food historian and also consults with the ITC hotel. Its amazing to see what we call mughlai today is very different to what actually is mughlai food during the time of the Mughal emperors. The books written by her are translations and improvisations from Persian text from that period -  Alwan-e-Nemat, Akbarnama, Ain-i-Akbari and Alwan-e-Nemat, to name a few. Reading the recipes the ingredients and the method it clearly reflects the Persian heritage – mildly spiced, use of berries in food, a dash of sugar sometimes. It’s not until the time of Shah Jahan did they start experimenting with more spices. According to Ms Hussain, shortly after he shifted his capital from Agra to Shahjahanabad, he was informed that the drinking water in the new city was making his subjects sick. That’s when the king ordered that food be cooked with more haldi, red chillies, cumin and coriander, for their medicinal properties. Truly every cuisine has evolved imbibing ingredients and flavours from new settlements.

 

This chicken dish is an inspiration of mild spices and cream which is my rendition of what you may find on the emperor’s table. I have used oil in my cooking however you may choose to only use ghee.

Ingredients

8 chicken drumsticks

Khara Masala

5 green cardamoms
2 black cardamoms
10 pieces of cloves
4 inch stick of cinnamon

2 ½ cups finely sliced onions

5-6 tbsp vegetable cooking oil (you could replace this with ghee as well if you prefer)
1 tbsp ghee
½ tsp garam masala
1½ tbsp. dhania (coriander seed) powder
2 tsp red chilli powder
1½  tbsp garlic crushed coarsely
100 ml Cream (whipped lightly)
½ cup Milk
Salt to taste
 

Method

 

·         In a pressure cooker, pour 5-6 tbsp of vegetable oil and heat it. Add the khara masala and let it crackle. Add the sliced onions and sauté it till it turns light to dark brown. Do this on a low flame to ensure you don’t burn the onions. Now add garlic and sauté it a little say about another minute.

 

The Khara Masala Crackling

 

·         No add the chicken legs and ghee to the pressure cooker and cook for about 5-7 minutes, tossing the contents occasionally so that the masala does not stick to the bottom of the vessel.

·         In a bowl mix the cream, milk, red chilli powder and dhania powder and continue and stir the mixture.  Add this mixture to the chicken and continuously stir, till all contents have mixed well. Add garam masala. Let this cook on a slow flame till the contents bubble.

The chicken just before adding the saffron, bubbling away..

  

·         Add saffron and salt to taste and cover the pressure cooker and put the whistle. Let it cook on high flame till you hear about 5-6 whistles and then close the flame. Don’t open the contents immediately. Wait for about 5 minutes before you open the vessel. You could also choose to cook this in an open vessel over a slow flame.

 

Serve with any Indian bread (roti, paratha or naan) or steamed rice and onion rings.

Grilled Chicken and Herb Fried Rice

I am a raving fan of Nando’s chicken.  I could eat the grilled chicken all the time. I think I'm more in love with the sauce that accompanies the chicken - love the spicy citric flavour! Nothing in the market matches it...

 

On Friday we got some grilled chicken home and they gave loads of sauce. Not knowing what to do with it I pondered and decided to use it to make more chicken! If you have ever wandered onto the Nando’s official website you can find a lot of recipes using their sauces and marinades. I decided I should have my own version as well with the left over sauce !  If it was the right season I would have loved to BBQ this recipe.

 

Ingredients
4 medium sized chicken breasts
Oil for pan grilling the chicken

For Fried Rice

3 cups steamed rice
3 tbsp butter
2 tbsp vegetable cooking oil (you could replace this with olive oil if you prefer)
4 cloves of garlic finely sliced (round)
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp red chilli flakes
2 tbsp tomato puree
¼ cup finely chopped fresh coriander
Salt to taste

For Chicken Marinade

8 tbsp Lemon Herb Nando’s Sauce
2 tbsp garlic paste
1-2 tsp red chilli flakes
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

5 tbsp tomato puree

¼ cup finely chopped fresh coriander
Salt to taste

Method

Chicken Preparation

·         Mix the ingredients of the marinade in a bowl and marinate the chicken for 3-4 hours

 

Marinating the Chicken

 

·         Heat a grilling pan, brush oil in it and cook the chicken breast about 2 minutes on each side of which the first 1 minute cook it with the pan lid on. To check if your chicken breast is done take a knife and push it through the thickest part of the chicken breast, if it goes through easily it’s done. Don’t be scared brushing a bit of marinade and oil on the breast whilst its cooking, it will help keep the chicken juicy.

 

Pan Grilling the Chicken

 

·         Once the chicken is cooked, you can heat the marinade in the same pan (ensure there are no burnt chicken pieces or marinade stuck to the pan, remove any without washing the pan) and add a splash of white wine and bring to a boil, to make a thick sauce which you could serve with the chicken.

 

Chicken on a bed of rice drizzled with the left over marinade sauce

 

 Fried Rice Preparation

·         Take a heavy bottomed pan and heat the butter. Add a quarter of the chopped garlic and sauté it till it changes colour. Add the tomato puree and cook for about 30 seconds on high flame. Add the lemon juice. Set aside.

·         In a small pan take the olive oil and heat it. Add the remaining garlic and sauté till its light-dark brown – crispy. Add in red chilli flakes before taking it off the fire.

·         Turn on the flame of the heavy bottomed pan, add coriander and salt and stir. Now slowly add in the steamed rice mixing continuously to avoid the rice from sticking to the bottom of the pan.

·         Now add the burnt garlic and olive oil concoction. Switch of the fire and mix well. It’s ready to plate.

Plate the rice and chicken breast and enjoy. I had it with a little extra hot Nando’s Peri Peri sauce and it was lovely!!

Chicken With Herb Fried Rice before it was demolished !

 You could also serve this with a light salad - Mix finely chopped deseeded tomatoes, cucumber and red onions. Add lemon juice salt and pepper. Garnish with freshly chopped coriander.

Broccoli and Pepper Salad with Creamy Feta Dressing

I know I have not been very regular writing, but with a baby and work I really was struggling. Being a long weekend I decided to get back to my experiments.

Let me talk about a very versatile cheese Feta, widely used in a variety of dishes. My love affair with Feta started when my flat mate made me try the traditional Greek salad or “horiatiki”. It is the only cheese used in the traditional Greek Salad; though many would tell you can replace it with Paneer but clearly does not work!  The word “Feta” means “a piece” or “and a slice”. It is a Greek curd cheese made from sheep’s or goat milk ripened in brine. Typically this cheese is crumbly in texture though you also get the creamy variants in the markets. The creamy version which I use in this recipe makes great dips and spreads as well. Both these versions (creamy and crumbly) are easily available in gourmet stores. This salad is inspired from the traditional Greek Salad. Hope you enjoy this summer salad as much as we do ! It goes really well with grilled chicken.

 

Ingredients

1½ cups broccoli boiled
1 Red Bell Pepper cut into cubes
1 Yellow Bell Pepper cut into cubes
1 Tomato deseeded and cut into cubes

Dressing

1 tbsp thick yoghurt
6-7 tbsp Creamy Feta Cheese (add more if you like feta)
¼  tsp black pepper powder
1 tsp Red Chilli Flakes
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp Sumac powder or lemon juice
2 large cloves of garlic, finely chopped and browned in olive oil
Salt to taste

 

Method

Put the ingredients of the dressing in the salad bowl and whisk together.

 

 

Salad Dressing Ingredients stacked in the bowl

 

Whisked Salad Dressing

 Add broccoli, peppers and tomato and mix well. Keep the tossed salad in the refrigerator for an hour for the salad to chill and dressing to be absorbed.

Salad is ready to eat !!

You could even add other boiled vegetable such as carrots and beans or even sliced black olives. Just ensure if you’re adding more vegetables you increase the dressing accordingly.

In case you don’t get the creamy feta you could mash the block feta. Suggest to taste the dressing before adding salt as Feta is a very salty cheese.  

 

Information on Feta Cheese, sourced from Vefa’s Kitchen, Bible on Greek Cooking