Clockwise from top left: Potato salad, mac and cheese, turkey and gravy, green bean casserole, stuffing
Thanksgiving came and went so quickly, but the memories of the amazing food and people I was with last Thursday, remain fresh in my mind. Between the whirlwind of grad school, full time work, and… life, come these special opportunities to take a step back and evaluate, and remind ourselves to be thankful for all we have. And remind myself I did.
The spread
I’ve been so busy and so consumed with my work and my studies, I’ve barely had a breath to myself. Despite being busy with so much, in moments of silence and lull, I find myself wondering if I’m on the right path. Whether I’m doing the right things the right way. Whether I’m being and becoming the person I’d like to be. We’re all deliberate and strategic about what we do and how we want to behave on a daily basis. But we rarely have enough time to truly evaluate ourselves with an honest eye and confess whether we’re being true to our inner compass. Before I get more sentimental on you, the point of this little confession was to tell you that this Thanksgiving was particularly special for me because of all the blessings I’ve been showered with this year.
Mr. Turkey – The guest of honor
So, early last week, as I reached through my inner compass and asked myself what I was missing, I realized I was missing – ‘cooking’! Yes, I haven’t been cooking much lately and so, I decided to make something special to bring with me for this year’s Thanksgiving feast. I decided to make a very simple and light chicken appetizer, but also got a little adventurous and decided to make a chocolate cake. More on this in a later blog post! Here’s the appetizer I whipped up:
Simple-n-quick Chicken appetizer
I took a common Indian dish – kheema (spiced, ground meat) – and decided to pile it into these little pre-baked phyllo-dough cups. I then topped each ‘cup’ with some shredded cheese, and three trays of the appetizer were gone in no time! I made the kheema a little spicier than usual, as the phyllo dough cups are fairly bland, and end up neutralizing the extra spice. I made the kheema using ground chicken, but you could go traditional, and use mutton. You can also skip the shredded cheese to make it lower on fat. Here’s the recipe:
Serves: Around 6-7 people as an appetizer
Ingredients:
- 4 trays (packages) of pre-baked phyllo dough cups
- Shredded cheese of your choice (optional)
- 1 package ground chicken – I buy the Gold-n-plump variety that has 10% fat
- 1 tbsp oil
- 3-4 dried bay leaves
- 1/2 tsp whole cumin seeds
- 3-4 garlic pods – minced
- 1/4 onion, finely chopped
- 2 tbsp tomato ketchup
- 2 tsp cumin-coriander powder (available as a blended spice in Indian grocery stores)
- 1 tsp chili powder
- 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
- 1/4 tsp chaat masala (spice blend available in Indian grocery stores)
- A few drops of lemon juice
- Salt to taste
- Fresh chopped cilantro
Method:
- In a non-stick pan, heat the oil on medium heat. Ad the cumin seeds and bay leaves. When the cumin seeds begin to splutter, add the chopped garlic and onion. Allow to cook until translucent
- Add the tomato ketchup and powdered spices, except for the chaat masala. Mix well, and add the ground chicken. Stir the chicken well until it is mixed in with the spices. Let the chicken cook. It will have a brown color when done. Make sure you break up all the chicken lumps
- Add salt to taste and the chaat masala. Mix well and add the lemon juice and chopped cilantro
You can eat the kheema made this way, with flatbread or with a pilaf. For this recipe proceed to the next step.
- When the kheema has cooled, pile it into each phyllo cup with a teaspoon. The dried bay leaves are not edible so leave them out when spooning the kheema into the cups. Top with cheese if you like, and serve immediately.
Ridiculously easy Vegetable Coconut curry
Vegetable coconut curry served over quinoa
Last weekend I did something quite ridiculous. (I’m really loving the word ‘ridiculous’, aren’t I) Can you guess? Give up?
I WENT SKY-DIVING! It’s something I’ve been wanting to do for a while now, but couldn’t quite muster up the courage to do it. With all the ridiculously (there it is again) amazing things that have been happening in my life this year, I said to myself – “Why not jump out of a perfectly good plane, 10k feet above the ground?”And so I did. What followed was the time of my life, scared sh****ss, screaming like there’s no tomorrow, insane experience of my life that I will be definitely repeating a few times again. Yeah 🙂
So, when I got back home from the ‘event’ and it was time for dinner, I needed something light, comforting, and easy to put together to counter the adrenalin rush from the morning. With a few simple ingredients and a bowlful of assorted veggies, this curry is easy, healthy, low-fat, and very delicious. This is what I did:
Cube up some assorted veggies you can find in your fridge. I had some zucchini and yellow squash in mine. If I had some, I’d also include carrots, broccoli, and sugar-snap peas. Then, finely chop up some onion, sautee on medium heat with some olive oil until translucent, add in a dollop of tomato paste, mix, spice, mix, add the veggies, stir, add a can of coconut milk, simmer for a bit, and… DONE! I garnished the curry with some chopped cilantro but you could add parsley or chopped thai basil too.I also cooked up some quinoa in the rice cooker to go with it, but basmati or jasmine rice would go beautifully too.
Here’s the whole recipe:
Ingredients: (serves 2)
- 1 yellow squash, 1 zucchini (or other assorted veggies in the fridge)
- 1/4 large onion, very finely chopped
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 1/2 tsp Cumin-Coriander powder
- 1/2 tsp chili powder (or less, per taste)
- 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
- Salt to taste
- 1 can low-fat coconut milk
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- Chopped cilantro, parsley or thai basil for garnishing
- Optional – lemon juice to taste
Method:
- Heat the oil in a non-stick pan on medium heat. Sautee the minced onion until it is translucent and beginning to brown. Add the tomato paste and mix well.
- Add all the powdered spices, mix, and then add all the cubed veggies. Allow the veggies to simmer for 30 second or so before you add the salt
- Add the coconut milk, mix well, and let the curry simmer for about a minute.
- Garnish with fresh herbs and lemon juice, and serve immediately over a bed of freshly steamed rice or quinoa
Chicken Kathi Kebab rolls – Spicy Chicken rolls
Chicken Kathi Kebab roll – one of my fave Indian street foods –> Roll it up and eat it!
After over 3 months of no updates here, it feels strangely comforting to be writing another post. Over these 3 months, while I craved preparing a creative meal, lovingly plating it, and then carefully photographing it, there was so much going on… I never had the time nor the right frame of mind to do all the things I enjoy doing so much. I come here after this short hiatus, feeling like a renewed woman. So much is different, yet so much is the same. This time away from OneLifeToEat and my lovely readers has taught me so much – I realize now the strength of my family, their faith and love in me, and the surprising reservoir of strength I seem to have in myself. I cannot thank them for all the support they have given me, enough. I stand here today strong and positive, only and only because of the love of my family. I want to do a special call-out to my two amazing, beautiful sisters who have been my rock, my conscience, and my courage this past year.
Challenging life situations have a way of testing true friendship. People who I thought would stand by me have fallen away, and strength and support has come from some of the most unexpected places. Friends who I hadn’t known for long have gone out of their way to show solidarity, and welcome me in their homes when I needed an escape. One such friend is Shruti. Shruti and I met through a common friend, who has also been such an amazing support to me. As fellow foodies, Shruti and I decided to do a fun cooking project together. We decided to make something that I don’t know how to prepare, and something that she loves to make – Kathi Kebab rolls.
I remember eating Kathi kebab rolls for the first time on the Churchgate train station in Mumbai. The Churchgate station is a busy metro transit station in downtown Mumbai, and the final stop for many office-goers. A multitude of small food stalls and vendors are at the station, selling every type of food from the mundane to the phenomenally interesting. One such stall was a small ‘frankie’ stall that made mouth-watering chicken, paneer and vegetable rolls wrapped up in Indian flatbread. Soft Indian flatbread is coated on one side with cooked egg. Then, a spicy chicken or paneer mixture is placed in the middle of the flatbread, which is topped with an assortment of tangy, spicy chutneys. The whole thing is rolled up and served piping hot in parchment paper! It tasted like the perfect remedy after a grueling day at the office.
When I moved to Pune, India to pursue my MBA degree, I had a slightly different kind of Kathi kebab roll – it was spicier and certainly had much more character. Later, when I visited Delhi, I had a third type of Kathi roll, that had more of a charred, tandoor flavor to it and the chicken was wrapped in naan instead of flatbread.
Shruti, being from Pune, taught me how to make the Pune style of Kathi rolls. Her method is incredibly simple and quick to prepare and I would highly recommend you giving it a try if you’re in the mood for an innovative cooking and eating experience. Here’s Shruti’s Kathi Kebab roll recipe:
Ingredients: (makes 5 rolls)
1. For the Chicken Kebab mixture: (all spices available at any Indian grocery store)
- 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, washed and cut in 1-inch cubes
- 4-5 tbsp canola oil
- 1 cup red onion, finely chopped
- 1 cup tomatoes, finely chopped
- 1 tbsp ginger and garlic paste
- 1 tsp Dhania-Zeera (coriander and cumin seed) powder
- 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
- 3/4 tsp chili powder
- 1/2 tsp Chaat masala
- 1/2 tsp Tandoori Chicken Masala (This will add an interesting tandoor flavor to the chicken. I like the MDH brand the best but you can pick up any brand available at your local Indian grocer)
- Salt to taste
- Juice of 1/2 lime
- A handful of fresh coriander leaves, finely chopped
- 1 cup thinly sliced red onion for garnishing
2. For the egg coating:
- 2 eggs, whipped
- Salt and pepper to taste
Whip the egg, salt and pepper together in a bowl and set aside.
3. For the roll:
You can make Indian flatbread using fresh wheat dough from scratch, or you can buy it ready-made from any Indian grocery store. Most Indian grocers sell frozen Indian flatbread.
You will also need mint and coriander chutney – you should be able to find this at any Indian grocer.
Method
- First prepare the Chicken stuffing – Heat the oil in a large shallow pan and when well heated, add the finely chopped onions. Cook on medium heat until translucent and slightly brown
- Add the ginger and garlic paste, mix well, and then add the tomatoes. Mix again, and cook on high heat until the tomatoes are soft. The idea is to let all the water from the tomatoes and onions evaporate
- Now add all the powdered spices as well as the salt to taste. Mix well, allow to cook for a minute or so, and then add all the chicken. Mix to envelop the chicken in the onion, tomato and spices mixture
- Lower the heat, put a lid on the pan and allow the chicken to cook. When cooked through, check if any water has released – if it has, continue to cook until the mixture is fairly dry. Garnish with coriander leaves and a handful of sliced onions. Set aside.
To assemble the roll –>
- Heat a large, circular pan and place one cooked Indian flatbread on it. When the flatbread is heated on one side, place a small ladle-ful of the egg mixture on one side. Allow the egg to cook over the flatbread over medium heat. When you can see that the egg is partially cooked and begun to stick to the flatbread, carefully flip it over to let it cook completely.
When the egg has cooked through, remove and place the flatbread + egg, egg-side-up, on a plate. Place a small strip of the chicken mixture in the middle, spoon a dollop of the mint and coriander chutney, sprinkle some of the sliced red onion, roll up and eat!
Special thanks to Shruti and her daughter Niassa, who made this cooking project so very special for me. Isn’t Niassa totally huggable? 🙂
One Life to Eat 