Frozen Fruit Ice cubes

Whole/sliced fruit, lemon/orange zest or various fruit juices frozen in layers add life and color to the boring white ice cubes ... Additionally, these ice cubes enhance the flavor of your drink as they melt. Frozen whole/cut fruit itself can be used to chill your drink (frozen whole grapes in wine). Cheers !!

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Coconut Cubes - frozen

Ground coconut or grated coconut can be frozen for use later. Even Chutneys can be stored in the same way. Just defrost and use or add directly into the pot. Saves a lot of time.




For just the 2 of us, one whole coconut would be a lot for one time use unless we make an all coconut menu for the day. More often than not, I would break a coconut, use very little and store the rest in the refrigerator which would go bad if not used in the next 2-3 days. So I decided to grate the whole coconut and freeze it.

I actually don't grate the coconut. I use a knife to get small pieces off the shell and then grind them - coarsely with less/no water if I want to use in recipes when I need to roast the coconut and finely with water as required for gravy/chutney etc.

Method for freezing:
Put in ice cube tray and freeze. Remove frozen cubes and store in a freezer bag.

What to freeze:

• Coarsely grind coconut with a little water. (The picture above shows ground coconut cubes).
• Grated coconut
• Coconut chutney
• Grind Coconut, jeera, green chilies, curry leaves, turmeric - for adding in "Usal"/"Soondal"/"Usli"
• Roast grated coconut, cloves, red chili, coriander seeds. Grind and freeze- for gravys
• coconut milk

How to use:

• Defrost and roast for gravys.
• Defrost and serve chutneys.
• Directly add to the pot and mix.

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Weekend Prep.

Did you realize that we repeat the same basic steps everyday when we make a meal (special in Indian kitchens) ? Here are some basic preparations that would help speed up everyday cooking.





Sauteed Onion Paste

More often than not, we start by cutting and frying onions. So instead of cutting 1-2 onions a day and frying them, I took about 8 big onions, sliced them and sauteed them in about 1 to 2 tbsp of oil. Once translucent and slightly brown, I turned the heat off and allowed to cool. I made a paste of these sauteed onions and stored in the refrigerator.

Garlic Ginger Paste
Garlic and Ginger too are used in most of the Indian dishes. Grind peeled garlic and ginger and make a course paste adding a little oil as needed. Do not add water. Store in the refregerator.

Cilantro Green Chili Paste
Grind chopped cilantro (coriander leaves)and green clilies to make a paste adding a little oil as needed. Do not add water. Store in the refregerator.

Blanched Tomato Paste
Using a knife make a small cross at the bottom of each tomatoe. Use about 10 medium tomatoes. Boil water in a pan and add the tomatoes. Keep covered for 2-5 mins. Drain water and cool tomatoes. Peal the skin and puree. Store in the refregerator.

Identify the common steps you follow in your kitchen and try to come up with other things that you can prepare over the weekend.

Recipes I tried...

• Chicken Gravy - marinate chicken in garlic ginger paste, onion paste, salt, turmeric and lime juice. Heat oil in a pan. Add whole garam masala. Add cooked onion paste and saute for few. Add the marinated chicken and spice powders (corriander, cumin, chili and garam masla of your choice). Keep stirring. When the chicken/masala starts to stick to the bottom, add tomato paste. Stir till tomato is well integrated. Add water and cook covered for few till chicken is done.
• Chicken tangdi kebab - slit 4 chicken legs. Apply salt, lime and turmeric powder and set aside. In another bowl, add 1 tbsp onion paste, 1/2 tsp garlic paste, 1/4 tsp chili cilantro paste, salt, 1 tsp coriander powder, 1 tsp cumin powder, pinch cardamom powder, pinch kasoori meethi, 1 tsp gram flour (besan). Add a little oil. Apply this paste to the chicken pieces and allow to marinate in the refregerator for atleast and hour (6 to 10 hours max.). Bring the chicken to room temperature. Put the chicken legs in a microwave safe dish and microwave for 3-4 mins. Heat a iron skillet/tawa and put the chicken pieces. Keep turning till all sides are done. Serve hot with cilantro and chili paste and a slice of lime.
• Meethi dal - Pressure cook dal and meethi leaves with salt and turmeric. Heat oil in a pan. Add curry leaves and mustard seeds. Add tomato paste and some salt. Pour in the cooked dal and cook till dal boils.
• Cauliflower Sabji for rotis - Cut cualiflower and place in a microwave safe dish. Add a little water and microwave for 3-5 mins. Heat oil in a pan. Add cumin seeds and garlic ginger paste and onion paste. Add turmeric and cumin powder and garam masala. Add microwaved cauliflower along with the water and salt. Keep stirring. When the masala starts to stick to the pan, add tomato paste. Stir well. Add slit green chilies. You may also add yogurt instead of tomato paste. Cook covered till done. If you need gravy, add more water and salt and bring to boil.
• Simple tomato soup - heat oil. Add cinnamon and cumin. Add salt and tomato paste. Mix cornflour with water and add to the soup. Bring to boil. Add pepper and serve with bread. You may also add cream if you want a richer soup. Substitute Tomato paste with Onion Paste to make onion soup.
• Tomato rasam - using tomato paste
• Masala fish Fry - apply garlic ginger paste, cilantro chili paste, turmeric, chili powder, coriander powder, salt to King Fish/Sear fish or Tilapia. Fry on tawa with little oil. You may roll the fish in rawa (sooji) if you prefer a crisp fish.

The options are unlimited. I will continue to post other recipes I try. Use your imagination ....

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Desi Ghee (Clarified Butter)

(Indian) Ghee (Clarified Butter) made at home from store bought butter.







The ghee we get in the Indian stores here does not seem to have the aroma of the desi ghee and also is much more expensive than making it at home yourself. Some of my friends make ghee at home using store bought butter so I thought I'll give it a try. To get the desi ghee (nutty) flavor, allow the butter to brown on a low flame.


Ingredients:
2 sticks butter (salted or unsalted) or more

Method:

• Put the butter in a heavy bottom pan and heat on low flame till it starts to foam.
• Keep removing the foam with a ladle.
• Allow the butter to bubble till all the foam is removed. Continue to bubble till it reaches the desired color (I like a slight brown color to my ghee so I let it boil a little longer.)
• Let it cool and while still in liquid form strain using a metal strainer and store in a glass jar keeping the mouth open. All the brown burnt bits will be collected by the strainer. In a few hours, the ghee will solidify and you can cover the lid and store.

Notes:
Ensure that the heat is low at all times and do not leave it unattended - the butter will burn in no time if the heat is increased.

If you use salted butter like I did, the salt will raise to the top with the foam and can be removed.

Step By Step Pictures

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Ganesh Chaturti Thali

Varan, Rice with ghee, Beans Tondak, Moonga gathi, Sar, Cabbage sabji, Poori and potato pakodas - typical Goan Chaturti Menu





Cabbage Sabji - Heat oil. Add mustard & green chilies. Once the spluttering stops, add cabbage and turmeric powder and cook till done. Add salt and garnish with coriander leaves.

Potato Pakodas - Cut potatoes into disks. Make Besan batter with ajwain, salt and chili powder. Dip potato disks in batter and deep fry till done.

Varan - Pressure cook tur dal. Grind coconut, turmeric powder and jeera and add to the cooked dal. Add salt and bring to boil.

Mooga gathi - Boil sprouted beans with curry leaves, green chilies, hing turmeric powder and salt. Grind grated coconut, red chilies, tamarind, roasted coriander powder, cloves, turmeric powder, jaggery and black pepper. Add to the moong and bring to boil. Season with curry leaves and mustard.

Sar - Reserve the water used to boil moong for moonga gathi. Heat oil and add mustard seeds and jeera. Add tomatoes, curry leaves, tamarind, green chilies and reserved water. You can boil some tur dal and use that water instead of the reserved water. Once sar start to boil, add coconut milk and turn the heat off.

Beans Tondak - Check the alternate veg recipe in the post - Crab Tondak

I have not included complete recipes here as these are very common recipes. Please mail me at "neelamsblogs@gmail.com" if you want recipes for any of the above mentioned goan dishes.

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Flavoured Ice Cubes

Summer is here and we feel the need to keep ourselves hydrated. It is boring to have plain cold water all the time so here are some fun ideas.

Make ice cubes using the following liquids and herbs and store in freezer bags for upto a week or 2(depends on the liquid and herbs used). Mix and match the ice cubes, add sugar or splenda and some plain or sparkling water to make instant refreshing flavoured water.

Liquids:

• Plain water.
• Black or Green Tea - pour boiling water over tea leaves (use 1 tsp tea leaves for 1 cup water) and steep for 7 to 8 mins. Cool and strain.
• Corriander Water - Boil 4 cups of water by adding 2 tbsp of corriander seeds. Reduce till you get 2.5 cups of water. You can make cumin water in a similar way.
• Lemon/Lime juice.
• Fruit juice (orange, water melon, blueberries, pomogranate etc. - extract juice and freeze)

Herbs:

• Lemon/Lime zest
• Mint leaves
• Orange zest

Method for ice cubes:

• Pour liquid in the ice tray. Add herb and freeze. Eg. water and lemon zest, tea and mint leaves, orange juice and lemon + lime zest etc.

To serve:

• Choose a base - water or sparkling water, choose a garnish - mint/lemon/lime/orange zest , choose the flavours - fruit juices, lemon/lime, tea, corriander/cumin.
• Add Flavour ice cubes to fill 3/4 of the glass. Add the garnish ice cubes.
• Finally add sugar and the base - water or sparkling water.

Serving suggestions:
Use any combination you like. Here are some suggestions:-

• Ice tea - 4 tea ice cubes, 2 mint ice cubes, 1 lemon zest ice cube, water and sugar
• Corriander Ice tea - 4 tea ice cubes, 2 corriander ice cubes, 2 mint ice cubes, water and sugar
• Fruit punch - 2 ice cubes each of various fruit juices, 1 lemon juice ice cube, 1 orange zest ice cube, 1 lemon zest ice cube, water and sugar
• Orange soda - 4 orange juice ice cubes, 1 mint ice cube , sugar and sparkling water.
• Lime Soda - 2 lime juice ice cubes, sugar, salt and sparkling water.
  

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Make papad in microwave

Place papad (papadum) in the microwave for 15 seconds. Turn and keep for another 10 seconds. The papadum shud be ready to eat by now. If it is still raw in some places, keep for another 10 seconds or more.

Serve papad with salsa or sprinkle chopped tomatoes, onions and pepper powder to make masala papad.

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Prep Vegetables and Herbs

Use these frozen vegetables or herbs on busy days. No need to thaw. Store for up to a month. Helps save on prep. time.

Note:

1. Always use fresh herbs to garnish.
2. Store each of the vegetable/herb in separate freezer bags.
3. You can also prep small quantities of vegetables/herbs and store them in refrigerator. No need to freeze. Use within a week.

Vegetables (Cauliflower/Cabbage/Carrots/Green Beans/Onions/Bell peppers etc.)

• Clean the vegetables.
• Pat dry with towel.
• Cut into bite size pieces.
• Put in freezer bags and store in the freezer.

Herbs/Garlic/Ginger/Tomato

• Wash in running water and drain excess water. For herbs, fill a big pot with water and add the herb. The herb will float on top and the sand will move down to the bottom of the pot. Pick the herb and place on towel.
• Peel (if required), rough chop and add to a blender.
• Add a little water if required and make a thick paste.
• Pour the paste into a ice cube tray. Use a tray made from silicone for easy removal of cubes. Also use the smallest shape available (about 1 tsp) for herbs, ginger and garlic. Use bigger shapes for tomatoes (about 1tbsp).
• Freeze the paste to form cubes.
• Store the frozen cubes in a freezer bag.

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