Barley, buckwheat, lentil & spinach salad

Fourth recipe for the weekend (rather my week beginning- while the whole world wakes up too a lazy Sunday breakfast, we head to office). Perfect for a light lunch or dinner.

Ingredients (Serves 1):

• Barley: 2 tbsp
• Buckwheat: 2 tbsp
• Lentils: 2 tbsp
• Baby Spinach: 100 gm, chopped
• Lime juice: 2 tsp
• Salt to taste

Preparation (20 mins):


Microwave at high with 1 cup of water and a pinch of salt for 15 mins.  Cool, add chopped spinach with a squeeze of lime. Toss. Lunch is ready.

Aubergines stuffed with cheese, bacon and 'methi'

Quiz time: Identify what possible concoction can you make with the ingredients shown below? And how does a single guy end up with these esoteric ingredients for dinner on a weekend?

Had gone to the supermarket to buy eggs, and the smallest package was 30 eggs. Since that didn't make sense and I was short of loose change, I picked up three small aubergines and a discounted bottle of grated cheese. All for OMR 1.7. Having solved the first problem (which always leads to a bigger one), I was raking my brains on what to do with them and the stuff I had back home.

So here it is a new brinjal/ eggplant/ aubergine bake. With all due apologies to all the grand dining places whosoever served me Parmigiana/ Moussaka or the lovely Karniyak from Hachi Baba from Istanbul. Just to set the record straight and preempt future libel from anyone who has done any of these three recipes, "I, declare that this recipe is my sole creation and bears no resemblance or relation to any of the above mentioned, or not mentioned, eggplant recipes (living or dead), cooked, served, dreamed of and enjoyed by anyone anywhere. Any resemblance is purely coincidental."

Ingredients (Serves 1- Very hungry and tired bachelor on weekend):

• Baby aubergines- Three small, tender.
• Cheese- As much as required/ possible; I used a dry mix of Romano, Parmesan and Asiago as that was the only one on discount.
• Dried bacon flakes- 1 tbsp
• Fenugreek/ Methi- 2 tsp dried leaves
• Butter- 1.5 tsp
• Chilli flakes- As hot as you want it.
• Olive oil for basting
• Salt- To taste

Preparation (Pre-bake time- 10 mins, Baking- 5 mins)

 

Hollow out the eggplants with a small knife. Keep the pulp separate.









Add salt, butter, bacon, cheese, chili flakes and fenugreek (methi leaves) leaves to the mix. And lightly fry in a skillet till the ingredients blend in.

Baste the eggplant shells with olive oil/ butter and stuff with the pre-cooked bacon and cheese mix. Seal the top off with a little extra cheese to trap in the juices.

Pop into microwave and cook at 600 C/ Medium for five minutes. Serve hot as hors d'evours or for dinner to a hungry guy on a weekend.

And ready for dinner.

Tips: 

• Being as cheesy as it is would suggest serving this with a tzatziki or even a simple side dish of yogurt and shredded cucumbers and unleavened bread.

Star Fruit and Shrimp Salad.

I am in one of those “Eat Healthy” phases. For the past few days my lunch at office has been fresh fruits or salads, of course rounded off by the once in a while pizza. While thinking of new salad ideas thought up this one, and seems it turned out not to bad. For those of you wondering whether or not I tried it out myself, well, I have. ;)

It’s a pretty nifty one. Refreshing on a hot summer’s afternoon or as a cold snack when you return from office.

Ingredients:

Star Fruit/ Carambola (or ‘Kamranga' as we call them in Bengali)- 1 green, the more tender the better the tart taste.

Shrimp- 200 gms, shelled and boiled in salt water with Paprika.

Paprika coarsely ground into powder- To taste.

Salt to Taste

Preparation:

Slice the fingers of the Carambola lengthwise, leaving behind the core which contains the pips. Chop these into small triangles. Sprinkle a healthy dose of paprika onto the shrimp. Salt to taste. Toss with the Carambola slivers. Chill. Serve.

Tips:

• Originally thought of making a dressing with 'Saké, and 'Wasabi'. Marinade the prawns in this pungent mix. And post marinade, you could mix in a little more sake and pour over the salad as dressing.
  
• To increase volume you can add shredded salad greens.
  

Greek Salad

Whatever, I like calling this a Greek Salad, therefore a Greek Salad it is. Fast to cook. And as one of my girl friends like calling it, the perfect 'horny-porny' food.

Ingredients:

Iceberg lettuce- 4
Cherry tomatoes- Half a handful
Black olives depipped and chopped- Half a handful
Feta cheese- 100 gm, chopped into small pieces
Mushrooms- Half a handful
Baby corn- 6 small
Pepper corns, roasted- 1 tsp
Olive oil and vinegar dressing

Preparation: [The snaps not mine, but does look inspiring:)]

Wash all the greens thoroughly. Chill iceberg lettuce. Throw all ingredients together in mixing bowl, shred chilled lettuce, add to bowl. Toss around with olive oil and vinegar dressing and a little salt for taste and volia, your salad's ready.

Tips:

• Perfect for a brunch after a late night. Also goes very well as an entree for dinner.
• Works perfectly with white wine and candleight. ;)

Sauted Veggies with Mustard Twist

A quick dish for the times you want a veggie side dish for a heavy meal.

Ingredients (Serves 2):
Potatoes- 3 large
Tomato- 1 small
Spring onions sprigs- 100 gms
Onions- 1 large
Oil- 2 tsp
Pepper corns- 1/2 tsp
Mustard seeds- 1 tsp
Salt & sugar to taste


Preparation:
Boil potatoes. Heat oil in pan, and fry onions till golden, add the chopped potatoes along with mustard seeds, pepper corns, salt, sugar to taste. Fry till potatoes are almost cooked. Add chopped tomatoes, spring onions and a few sprigs of corriander. Cover. In five minutes it can be served.

Methi Chicken

This one's passed down from a cousin of mine. This was the first dish cooked successfully for a lunch for junta, my first success as a host. This one's for you Gopalda. This one can be whipped up in a jiffy, about twenty-five minutes actual cooking time, is minimal fuss and requires very simple ingredients.

Ingredients (Serves- 2):
Chicken- 300 gms
Curd/ Yogurt- 100 gms
Green chillis- 3
Chilli powder- 1/2 tsp
Methi seeds- tsp
Oil- 2 tbsp
Salt and sugar to taste

Preparation:
Prepare a marinade of beaten curd, salt, chilli powder, salt. Marinate chicken for 2 hrs.
Heat oil, add methi seeds on low flame. Just as they start turning golden brown, add chicken pieces. Once the fat leaves the sides, add the marinade into the pan, stir and and leave covered for fifteen minutes. Once the chicken is done, slit the chillis lengthwise and add. Serve hot.

Tips:
The taste though similar to most creamy chicken dishes is suprisingly different because of the methi and the smell of green chillis added in the end. Great with rice.

Dak Bungalow style Chicken Jhol.

Remember those hurried meals put together at the end of a hard day's travel at dim ly lit circuit houses or government dak-bungalows. Thrown together by the chowkidar-caretaker-cook, the taste still lingers on. Probably the wonder of childhood, when things were so much more mysterious and the whole world was waiting to be discovered was the magic of the dish. Here's my attempt to recreate that magic.

Ingredients:

Chicken -1kg, cut into small pieces
Onions- 3 large chopped
Garlic- 2 large cloves, finely chopped
Ginger- 1/2 inch shredded
Oil-1 tbsp
Corriander powder.
Chilli powder
Turmeric powder
Salt, sugar to taste

Preparation:

Boil chicken with salt and keep the stock separately. Heat oil in pan, add onions, ginger, garlic. Add a little sugar to the onions to caramalize it and for colour. Once the onions are white, add chicken, and fry over high flame till tender. Add turmeric powder and chilli powder to taste. Lower flame, add chicken stock and simmer for 15 mins.
Add a tsp of corriander powder, cover and cook for 10 mins. Serve hot with rice.