Rasheeda's Travel and Food Blog

Rasheeda's travel and food blog

Category: Food Blog

Food Blog / Indian Cuisines

Meatballs and Rice

Meatballs and Rice, Greek recipe with an Indian twist

This festive recipe is an absolute treat for the young and old alike. Cooked Basmati rice is molded in a Bundt cake pan, flipped over on a plate, and meatballs with gravy are arranged around and center of it. I took a Greek recipe and made it with Indian spices. I have to admit there are a lot of similarities in Greek and Indian cooking.
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Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 50 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 20 minutes
Servings: 4
Course: light meal, Main Course
Cuisine: Indian
Ingredients Equipment Method

Ingredients
  

Basmati Rice:
  • 3 cups basmati rice, washed well and soaked in warm water for 15 minutes.
  • 2 teaspoons melted butter or olive oil
  • ½ teaspoon saffron, crushed
  • 1 tablespoon cilantro and mint mixture, very finely chopped
Tomato Sauce:
  • ¼ cup olive oil
  • 1 large onion, finely chopped
  • 4 cloves fresh garlic, finely chopped
  • 1 can (14 ½ oz.) whole tomatoes
  • 1 teaspoon cumin poweer
  • 1 teaspoon red chili powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
Meat Balls:
  • 1 pound ground beef or lamb,
  • 1 small onion, grated
  • ¼ cup bread crumbs
  • 1 large egg
  • ½ teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon garam masala
  • ¼ cup mixture of fresh cilantro, mint, finely chopped
  • 5 small green chilies, minced (optional)
  • ½ cup water

Equipment

  • Rice cooker, Bundt pan for molding the rice.

Method
 

Basmati Rice:
  1. Wash rice well and drain completely. Put the rice in a rice cooker with 3 ½ cups water, and 1 teaspoon salt and cook until ready.
Tomato sauce:
  1. Meanwhile, heat oil in a saucepan.
  2. Add onion and garlic and sauté on medium high heat until onion is soft and starts to get some color on it.
  3. Transfer a can of tomatoes to a bowl and crush by hand leaving some chunks for some texture which makes the dish pretty. Add the tomatoes to the onion and stir to mix well. let it simmer for 10 to 15 minutes.
  4. Add cumin powder, chili powder, black pepper, and salt. Mix well, cover and simmer for 10 minutes.
  5. Uncover, add butter, and sprinkle sugar to balance the acidity. It does not sweeten the sauce.
  6. Cover and simmer until sauce cooks down slightly.
Meatballs:
  1. While the sauce is simmering, In a bowl, add ground meat, onion, bread crumbs, one egg, ginger, garlic, cumin, garam masala, mixture of mint and cilantro, and green chilies (if using).
  2. Transfer to a food processor and process until everything is well mixed. Don't over process.
  3. Remove to a bowl and form into meat balls pressing firmly. Once all the meatballs are ready, drop them into the sauce. Mix well and add ½ cup water. Simmer for 15 minutes and remove from heat. Let it stand for 15 minutes before.
Assemble the Final Dish:
  1. To assemble the dish, grease a Bundt pan well with melted butter or olive oil. Sparsely sprinkle with crushed saffron, chopped cilantro and mint mixture.
  2. Transfer cooked rice in it and press it down with a flat spoon to firm it up. Flip it over a Plate. The top looks jeweled with orange and green colors of saffron and herbs. Arrange meatballs around it with a little sauce. Also serve sauce on the side for those who like extra sauce with their meal.

Food Blog / Vegetarian Recipes

Sautéd Okra

Sautéd Okra

Deliciously simple, a quick vegetarian treat as a side to any Indian meal. Adding okra to your diet will ensure a healthy digestive system.Its high fiber content helps add needed bulk to keep the system clean.
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Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Servings: 4
Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: Indian
Ingredients Equipment Method

Ingredients
  

  • ½ pound fresh, small okra, washed and ends trimmed
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • ¼ teaspoon cumin seeds
  • 1 0nion finely chopped
  • ¼ cup tomato puree
  • 1 teaspoon each freshly minced garlic cloves and ginger root
  • 1 teaspoon coriander seeds, lightly roasted and crushed
  • ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
  • 1 teaspoon black pepper
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 5 green chilies finely chopped
  • ½ teaspoon Mango powder(amchur)
  • 1 teaspoon dried fenugreek leaves, crushed to a powder
  • ⅛ teaspoon clove powder
  • 1/4 cup water

Equipment

  • Sauté pan

Method
 

  1. Bring 2 cups of salted water to a boil. Add prepared okra to it and let it boil for about 6 seconds. Remove from heat and strain though a metal sieve and set it aside.
  2. Heat oil in a non-stick frying pan, add cumin seeds and let them brown.
  3. Add chopped onion and sauté until onion turns glossy and translucent.
  4. Add tomato puree, ginger, garlic, crushed coriander, turmeric, Black pepper and salt, and continue to stir fry on medium low heat until oil starts to separate on the side.
  5. Lower heat further and add prepared okra, chopped green chilies, mango powder, crushed fenugreek, and clove powder. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons water and stir to mix while still cooking. make sure that okra is cooked. If still needs more cooking, add some more water and cook until okra is fully cooked.
  6. Transfer to a bowl, and serve with the main meal.

Food Blog / Vegetarian Recipes

Simple Potato Curry

Curried Potatoes

Simplicity of this potato recipe comes from the flavor base(handi) concept of cooking. You can make many different vegetarian dishes with the same base, which is an Indian version of French mirepoix, which turns out simple, elegant, and delicious dishes every time. Once mastered, a novice to Indian cooking would have conquered the process of curry making. This classic technique is the mother of all techniques. If this base is ready, you can make any vegetable, meat and vegetable, lentils and vegetable dishes by adding what ever your heart desires. Spicy food lovers should start with this idea and move on to become experts on cooking Indian food at home for the family.
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Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes
Servings: 2
Course: light meal, Side Dish
Cuisine: Indian
Ingredients Equipment Method

Ingredients
  

  • 1 pound small red potatoes Peeled and cut in halves
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil or any oil
  • 1 onion diced
  • 4 cloves garlic, finely minced, or ½ to 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 Inch root ginger, finely grated, or ½ to 1 teaspoon ground ginger works really well
  • 1 teaspoon chili powder
  • ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1½ cups water
  • 4 small green chilies
  • 1 tablespoon fresh cilantro, finely chopped

Equipment

  • 12-inch Cast iron skillet, or a saucepan

Method
 

  1. Peel, cut, wash, and drain potatoes and set aside.
  2. Heat oil in a cast iron skillet or a saucepan, add diced onion, ginger and garlic, chili powder, turmeric, salt, black pepper and ¼ cup water. Bring the contents to a boil.
  3. Stir to mix and lower heat to the lowest mark on your stove, cover and cook until onions are very soft.
  4. Remove cover, increase heat to medium high and stir fry contents until oil starts to separate from the onions. Add potatoes stir to combine, then add 1 cup water cleaning the sides of the saucepan. Cover and cook on medium high heat until the potatoes are tender.
  5. Increase heat slightly and cook the contents to thicken the sauce.
  6. Sprinkle remaining ¼ cup water, chopped cilantro and green chilies, and let it simmer covered for fifteen minutes and turn the heat off. Serve with rice or bread.

Flavors and Tastes of India / Food Blog / Vegetarian Recipes

Flavors and Tastes of India

Indian food, and especially vegetarian recipes are at the height of popularity. Although meat is considered and desired as a quintessential ingredient amongst non-vegetarians, It is renounced and rejected by the vegetarian population globally, and especially by vegetarians in India who follow a strict vegetarian diet for centuries. Now there is a branch which calls itself vegans. Though the difference between the vegetarians and vegans seem a little murky, vegetarians don’t eat animal meat, but they eat animal products such as milk, dairy, and eggs. Whereas vegans stringently stay away from both animals and animal products, because of their health concerns, and moral concerns of harming animals.

At one time vegetarian dishes in India were for everyone, whereas meat, poultry, fish, milk, cream and butter was enjoyed by non-vegetarians. But with the shrinking of the globe through international travel and advances in communications, foodies have developed an appetite for a variety in food, and vegetarian dishes claimed a large share of that. There is a delicious, and amazing array of vegetarian dishes that have gained popularity world over.

Lot of vegetarian dishes are flavored with herbs and spices. Herbs are used for their green parts, leaves and stalks, and are used freshly chopped either as one of the ingredients, or as fresh garnish which is inviting and appetizing with their vibrant colors and texture. Some of the commonly used herbs in Indian cooking are cilantro (both cilantro and coriander seeds come from the same plant. Cilantro is the name for leaves and stems, and coriander is the name for dried seeds), mint, and dill to name a few. Most commonly used spices are coriander, cumin, mustard, nigella seeds, sesame seeds, poppy seeds and many more.

As you see, there is a whole spectrum of spices to choose from to make immense variety of dishes from all different regions of India. Indian cuisine also has a flavor base like the French mirepoix, Spanish sofrito, and Cajun trinity. mirepoix is a French flavor base made with onion, celery, and carrots diced and cooked in oil and butter until it turns to mush which imparts deliciousness to the planned dish. When it is ready, vegetables for the final dish are added and cooked with needed seasoning and garnishing.  The same principle is applied to Cajun, and Spanish flavor bases only with some differences in combinations of aromatic vegetables. 

Indian flavor base works on the same principle but I am not sure if there is a name for it but all my life I have heard it  referred to it as a handi. which meant that diced onions, ginger and garlic paste, red chili powder, turmeric powder, salt, and oil or ghee are slow cooked in a covered pot until very soft. This base is then used to make a variety of vegetarian dishes such as curried potatoes, beans, eggplant, okra and many other desired side dishes. You can also add tomatoes to the base ingredients to make it more saucy and tangy. As in any kitchen, in my kitchen, I use a lot of twists by adding and removing ingredients to develop recipes and turning cooking from a  chore to a passion. This way my food is more appealing, interesting, and exciting for me, and I get more ahhh’s than meh’s for my effort.

A wise chef once surmised that only a few handful of recipes exist in the world-all else is simply a derivative of a “mother” recipe.

 Many use this same base to create recipes with meat and vegetable combinations, mixture of different vegetables, lentils and vegetables, and the possibilities are endless. My next post curried potato recipe which is created with this mother of all recipes, a simple, balanced flavor base and is hugely popular with young and old alike.


Food Blog / Vegetarian Recipes

Moong Daal with Vegetables

Moong Daal with Vegetables(Bengali style)

I had never tasted Bengali style vegetable daal until we were in England in 1965. I became friends with a Bengali doctor, Bella Das, who worked at the same hospital as my husband. She and her husband both were doctors. and lived in our neighborhood. We became family friends. And I learned a lot of Bengali dishes "sweet and savory", from her. Bengali style daal with vegetables became my favorite. This recipe was not in our repetroire in Hyderabad. It is delicious, filling and easy to make. It is like a staple which we eat with rice which is another staple food in India.
Her dishes kept me connected to Bengali food. When we move to the States, we ended up in western New York. I went to Alfred University, where I met a lot of young Bengali students. They were young and were very happy to have us as their family. They spend weekends with us and shared the cooking with me. They cooked Bengali food for us giving me time off from some of the weekend cooking. Here is the recipe for Bengali daal with vegetables.
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Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Total Time 55 minutes
Servings: 6
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Indian
Ingredients Method

Ingredients
  

  • ½ cup split moong daal
  • 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
  • ½ teaspoon turmeric
  • 1 teaspoon ginger/garlic paste(you can use powdered ginger and garlic ½ teaspoon each, because it is strong) available in Indian stores
  • ½ teaspoon cumin powder
  • ½ teaspoon sugar
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 3 cups water
  • ¼ cup green peas
  • ¼ cup carrots cut into discs
  • ¼ cup green beans
  • 1 Roma tomato, finely chopped
  • 2 small green chilies
  • 1 tablespoon cilantro, finely chopped
Thadka, or Tempering
  • 3 tablespoon oil
  • ½ teaspoon mustard seeds
  • 2 dried red chilies

Method
 

  1. Wash and drain daal well. Add some fresh water to cover daal. 
  2. Add crushed pepper, turmeric, ginger/garlic (you are using), cumin powder, sugar and salt. Stir and cook until daal is very soft. Add 3 cups water and stir to mix.
  3. Remove from heat and blend by using a potato masher or a blender. This daal is textured rather than very smooth; therefore stop blending when it is slightly coarse.
  4. Return to heat and add peas, carrots, beans, and tomatoes. Return to heat and bring the mixture to a boil, reduce heat and cook for 25 to 30 minutes on low heat or until all vegetables are cooked but not mushy.
  5. Add green chilies and cilantro and cook for another 5 minutes.
  6. Meanwhile, heat oil in a small saucepan, add mustard seeds and let them splurtter. Add dried red chilies and brown lightly shaking the saucepan for even browning.
  7. Transfer prepared daal to a serving bowl and pour the Thadka ( spiced oil on top). 
  8. Stir gently to serve with Plain white rice

Food Blog / Vegetarian Recipes

Potatoes and Bell Peppers Delight

Potatoes and Bell Peppers Delight

This is a colorful, and appetizing dish.
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Servings: 6
Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: Indian
Ingredients Equipment Method

Ingredients
  

  • ¼ cup olive oil
  • ½ medium onion, diced
  • 1 teaspoon garlic, minced
  • 1 teaspoon fresh ginger, minced
  • 5 small red potatoes, peeled and cut in halves
  • 1 ½ cups water, more if needed (divided)
  • 1 each red, orange, and green bell pepper, cored and cut in large dice
  • 1 cup crushed tomatoes
  • 1 tablespoon tomato paste
  • 2 teaspoon red chili powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon black pepper
  • 2 bay leaf
  • 3 small green chilies
  • 1 tablespoon freah cilantro, finely chopped for garnish

Equipment

  • Heavy saucepan, or a wok

Method
 

  1. In a heavy saucepan or a wok, heat olive oil or oil at hand on medium heat
  2. Add diced onion, and peeled and cut potatoes, sauté until onion is soft, lightly brown and potatoes are translucent.
  3. Add garlic and ginger and stir to cook for a minutes, don’t let it burn.
  4. Add ½ cup water,  saving remaining water for later use, cover and cook until potatoes are partly cooked.
  5. Add cubed bell peppers, along with crushed tomatoes, tomato paste chili powder, turmeric, salt, and black pepper. Cook stirring gently for 5 minutes.
  6. Add  rest of the water (1 cup), and  stir to mix, add bay leaf, cover and cook for 30 to 35 minutes or until the potatoes and pepper are tender. 
  7. Season to taste, add green chilies and cilantro. 
  8. Cover and simmer for 10 more minutes before removing from heat.
  9. Serve with white rice with other accompaniments, or serve as desired 

Food Blog / snacks

Ecuadorian Cheese Empanadas

Ecuadorian Fried Cheese and Onion Empanadas

Ecuadorian Cheese and onion empanada are very different from the meat empanadas we are familiar with.We had this light and airy empanadas with a stingy amount of filling inside, sprinkled with granulated sugar as they come out of hot oil. A delightful snack with our mid-morning coffee in a restaurant in Quito’s Historic center. It was quite delicious.
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Prep Time 50 minutes
Cook Time 50 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 40 minutes
Servings: 4
Course: Snack
Cuisine: Mexican
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

  • ¼ cup minced onion
  • 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
  • 1½ cups Monterrey Jack cheese
  • 1 quart vegetable oil for deep frying
  • ¼ cup granulated sugar for sprinkling on top

Equipment

  • Heavy bottomed suacepan

Method
 

  1. In a large bowl, add flour and salt and whisk to combine.
  2. Add cold, diced butter and use a pastry cutter to cut the butter into the flour until the mixture is crumbly.
  3. Add milk and make a dough adding extra milk if need be. Dough should be firm. Knead the dough until the dough is smooth and silky. Make a smooth disc and wrap it in parchment paper and refrigerate until ready to use.
  4. Meanwhile, cook minced onion in a frying pan over medium heat until it is fragrant. Remove from heat and let it cool.
  5. Add room temperature onion and grated cheese to a bowl and stir to mix until well combined. Set it aside.
  6. When ready, remove the dough from the refrigerator and let it soften. And then knead well to soften and make it pliable.
  7. Roll the prepared dough into a long, thin sausage roll. Cut into equal size portions, though each portion big enough to be rolled  into 6-inch diameter round.
  8. Place one tablespoon of the filling in the middle of the circle.
  9. Lightly brush the edges of the circle with a wet brush.
  10. Fold the circle in half and seal and crimp the edges firmly to prevent the filling from leaking out.
  11. Deep fry in 350-degree oil until light brown. Remove and sprinkle generously with granulate sugar, when right out of hot oil.
  12. They should be crispy and delicious.

Notes

You can use any desired filling in desired amount for variation.  Same dough recipe can be used for any empanadas. I think the secret to making them crispy is to use milk to mix the dough, knead the dough to soft and silky, and roll them thin. 

Dessert Recipes / Food Blog

Apples Preserved

Apples Preserved

This apple dessert tastes as delectable and exotic as it looks. A little time consuming, but very simple to make. I assure you it delights your palate as well your soul.
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Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 30 minutes
Servings: 10
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Ingredients Method

Ingredients
  

  • 10 small Gala apples or any firm, fresh apple works crab apple is recommended
  • 1½ cup granulated sugar
  • 1 cup water
  • ½ fresh juiced, and strained
  • 10 almonds blanched and peeled, more if needed

Method
 

  1. Core and peel apples but leave  them as whole. Rub each one with barely a drop of lemon juice to prevent browning. If you put them in acidulated water, apples will absorb water which will be released while cooking, making the cooking process longer and making apples mushy.
  2. In a large pot or a wok bring sugar, water and lemon juice to a boil. Lower heat to simmer and cook stirring until the sugar is competely dissolved. Continue to simmer for a few more minutes.
  3. When the sugar is dissolved, and liquid slightly reduced and brownish, add prepared apples and bring it back to a boil. Lower heat to simmer and continue to cook.
  4. Shake the saucepan gently and stir carefully,on and off, to brown apples on all sides. Give apples gentle turns every so often with great care, while spooning the syrup on the surface of each apple for a glossy amber finish. When ready, about 45 minutes,(may be a little more or less) and apples are tender (al dente), not mushy, remove from heat and let them cool in the syrup.
  5. Arrange on a platter to serve by putting almonds in the cored opening of each apple. Depending on the size of the opening, you may need more than one.
  6. Serve one apple per serving and drizzle some of the extra syrup over each serving.  Can be served with whipped cream, ice cream or any other dessert if so desired.