RICE, LENTILS AND COCONUT GRUEL / PORRIDGE ( Good Friday Rice Congee)

Good Friday is a day of fast and abstinence. In the olden days, people would have just one simple meal at mid day on Good friday. This Rice and Lentil Porridge / Gruel / Congee is normally prepared and eaten in most Christian Homes on Good Friday in India.

RICE, LENTILS AND COCONUT GRUEL / PORRIDGE

( Good Friday Rice Congee)

Serves 6  preparation time 1 hour

½  cup Raw Rice                   
½ cup Moong Dhal (Green gram dhal)
¼ cup Brown Sugar or Jaggery      
½ cup grated coconut or 1 cup coconut milk
2 tablespoons raisins           
A pinch of salt

Wash the rice and soak it for half an hour in a little water. Dry roast the Moong Dhal lightly in a pan and take down.  Heat 3 cups of water and the salt in a vessel, and when nicely boiling add the rice and the roasted Moong Dhal. Cook on low heat till the rice and dhal are soft and pish-pashy.
Add the coconut, sugar/ jaggery and raisins and mix well. Simmer for 2 or 3 minutes, then off the heat. The Porridge / Congee should be of the consistency of thick soup.
erve plain or with Coconut chutney either hot or cold

(Omit the Brown sugar or jaggery if you want it plain not sweet)

This Congee is usually eaten on Good Friday

SHIN BONE SOUP

SHIN BONE SOUP
A Soup is primarily liquid food that is made by combining ingredients such as meat and vegetables with some seasonings and boiling these ingredients in a pot for a suffient time till the flavours are extracted and a thick broth is obtained. Soups are generally served warm (but may be cool or cold).
Here is a simple recipe from the olden days for a whole SHIN BONE SOUP. Just right for a cold winter or rainy day or when one is feeling 'down in the dumps'

Serves 6     Preparation Time 2 hours

Ingredients
½  kg Beef Shin Bones chopped into medium size pieces
2 teaspoons pepper powder
2 teaspoons chopped mint or chopped corriander
2 large tomatoes chopped
2 medium size onions sliced thickly
Salt to taste
Wash the Shin Bones thoroughly, and boil with all the other ingredients in sufficient water - (about 1 or one and half litres of water or more depending on how much soup is required) in a suitable Crock Pot or Vessel.  
Simmer for about one hour till the soup is slightly thick and the broth gets a nice brown colour. Add more salt and pepper if needed. Serve with bread or toast.

FRIED FISH - RED MASALA FRIED FISH

 

Red Masala Fried Fish

Serves 6   Preparation Time 1 hour

Ingredients

1 kg good fleshy fish cut into thick slices (I used White Pomfret)
2 teaspoons ginger garlic paste
2 tablespoons red chillie powder
1 teaspoon cumin powder
½  teaspoon turmeric powder
1 teaspoon spice powder or garam masala
1 teaspoon coriander powder
Salt to taste
6 tablespoons oil
2 tablespoons vinegar

Mix all the ingredients together (except the oil) with a little water. Marinate the fish with this paste and keep aside for 1 hour. Heat oil in a shallow pan and fry the fish on both sides till brown. Use a little more oil if necessary. Serve with bread or with Rice and Pepper Water

COCONUT PANCAKES / PAN ROLLS FOR SHROVE TUESDAY / PANCAKE TUESDAY

SHROVE TUESDAY OR PANCAKE TUESDAY

Do you know the significance of Shrove Tuesday or Pancake Tuesday?

Shrove Tuesday is celebrated the day before Ash Wednesday, i.e. the day before the commencement of the season of Lent leading up to Easter Sunday. Shrove Tuesday always falls 47 days before Easter Sunday, so the date varies from year to year. The name Shrove comes from the old English word "shrive" which means “to confess”. In the Middle Ages, people used to go to confession and confess their sins on Shrove Tuesday, so that they were forgiven before the season of Lent began on Ash Wednesday.

Lent is a time of fast and abstinence and of making sacrifices and giving things up. The Church liturgy laid much emphasis on eating very plain food and refraining from food that would give pleasure during the period of lent. In many cultures, this meant no meat, dairy, or eggs. So in earlier times, Shrove Tuesday became the last chance for people to indulge themselves in good food on the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday and to make use of the items of foods that were not allowed during Lent.

In the United Kingdom and Ireland, Shrove Tuesday is more commonly known as Pancake Tuesday or Pancake Day, as it is customary to eat PANCAKES on this day. Pancakes thus became associated with the day preceding Lent, because it was a way to use up all the rich foodstuffs in the house such as eggs, milk, and sugar, before the fasting season of the 40 days of Lent began.

SIMPLE COCONUT PAN CAKES

Serves 2 

Preparation time 30 minutes

1cup flour (maida)                       

2 eggs beaten well

2 tablespoons sugar                   

½ teaspoon vanilla essence

1 tablespoon butter or ghee       

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon baking powder       

1cup milk

Mix all the ingredients together to get a thin smooth batter without lumps. Heat a non- stick frying pan. When hot wipe all over with a piece of cloth dipped in a little oil. Pour a ladle of batter in the pan with a swirling motion and then shake the pan so that the entire pan is covered. Cook on both sides and remove. Serve hot with Jam or honey.

Make the coconut Pan Rolls by placing  a spoon of sweetened grated coconut in the middle then roll them up. Serve hot.

For Fruit Pan cakes, add finely chopped fruit such as pineapple, banana, apple, etc., to the batter and make the pancakes as above.

SCRAMBLED EGGS WITH TOMATOES

SCRAMBLED EGGS

Scrambled Eggs is a Dish made from beaten eggs. A little oil or butter is heated in a pan over medium heat and the beaten eggs are poured into the hot pan and stirred frequently as they coagulate till just small bits are obtained. For savoury  Scrambled Eggs, chopped onions, green peppers, tomatoes, mushrooms etc are first fried in the oil or butter then the beaten eggs are poured into the pan and scrambled.

This recipe for Scrambled Eggs with Tomatoes, is from my new Recipe Book SIMPLE EGG DELICACIES which will be launched shortly

RECIPE FOR SCRAMBLED EGGS WITH TOMATOES
Serves 4  

Preparation Time 20 minutes

Ingredients
4 eggs beaten well
2 onions chopped finely
1 medium size tomato chopped finely
2 green chillies chopped
1 tablespoon chopped coriander leaves or chopped spring onions
100 grams butter or 3 tablespoons oil
Salt to taste

Heat the butter or oil in a pan and sauté the onions and green chillies till brown. Add the beaten eggs and salt and fry well mixing all the time so that the mixture does not stick to the bottom of the pan. Mix in the tomatoes and continue cooking on low heat till the eggs are well scrambled. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves or chopped spring onions. Serve with hot buttered toast.

 

SPICY ROAST CHICKEN

A simple and easy recipe for a spicy Chicken Roast. Just marinate and let it cook by itself for one hour. The same recipe could be followed for a Chicken Pot Roast.

 

SPICY ROASTED CHICKEN

Serves: 6  Preparation and cooking time: 1 hour 15 minutes

Ingredients
1 whole chicken jointed into 4 to 6 pieces
3 medium size potatoes peeled
3 large onions quartered
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon garam masala powder or all spice powder
2 teaspoons pepper powder
2 teaspoons chillie powder
Salt to taste
2 teaspoons lime juice

Wash the chicken and the potatoes. Mix in all the above ingredients and leave aside for 15 minutes. Arrange the marinated chicken and potatoes in a buttered oven-proof dish. Cover the dish with foil. Bake in a moderate oven (175 degrees C ) for about 45 minutes to 1 hour. Remove the foil and roast with the top grill only till the chicken turns a gold brown.
Serve with Steamed vegetables and any type of bread.

DHAL AND SPINACH CURRY

 

 DHAL AND SPINACH CURRY

Serves 6           Preparation Time 1 hour
Ingredients
1 cup Tur Dhal,

1 cup of spinach chopped finely,

2 green chilies slit lengthwise,

2 teaspoons chillie powder,

1 teaspoon coriander powder,                     

½ teaspoon turmeric powder,
2 tomatoes chopped,
1 onion chopped,
1 teaspoon crushed garlic,
salt to taste
For the seasoning:
1 teaspoon mustard, 2 red chilies broken into bits and a few curry leaves and 1 tablespoon oil.
Method

 Wash the dhal and cook it along with the greens, tomato, chilly powder, coriander powder, turmeric powder and onion with sufficient water in a pressure cooker.  When done open the cooker, add salt and some more water and mash well.  In another vessel, heat oil and add the mustard, broken red chilies and smashed garlic and fry for some time. When the mustard starts spluttering,  pour in the cooked dhal. Serve with rice.

 

 

STRAWBERRY SHAPED MARZIPAN SWEETS FOR CHRISTMAS

MARZIPAN SWEETS
Makes 30 pieces Preparation time 1 hour
Ingredients
250 grams almonds
250 grams sugar
300 grams icing sugar
2 egg whites
A little rose water for grinding
¼ teaspoon almond essence
250 grams cashew nuts
1/4 teaspoon pink food colour
      
Grind the almonds and cashew nuts with the egg whites and rose water to a smooth paste. Transfer the paste into a heavy bottomed pan and add the sugar and the pink food. Cook on low heat stirring all the time till the mixture forms a soft ball. Remove from heat and add the icing sugar. Knead till it forms a dry ball. Divide the mixture into even sized balls and mould into strawberry shapes.

DOLDOL ( BLACK HALWA) - AN ANGLO INDIAN CHRISTMAS DELICACY

Doldol is a rich Black Halwa like Christmas delicacy. It is made with Black Rice flour, roasted semolina, almonds, sugar and ghee simmered in thick coconut milk till a Halwa like consistency is reached. Christmas in KGF was never complete without Doldol.

Serves 6  Preparation time 1 ½ hours

Ingredients

1 kg sugar                                                                   

½ kg almonds 

2 cups roasted fine semolina or soogi or semolina            

 ½ kg ghee

5 cups thick cocoanut milk extracted from 3 coconuts      

1 kg Puttu Rice flour or Black /Red Rice flour

In a fairly big vessel, boil the sugar and cocoanut milk together till it forms thick syrup. Mix the rice flour and semolina together and add to the syrup a little at a time and mix well. Add the ghee and almonds. Stirring continuously cook till the mixture is thick and leaves the sides of the pan. Remove from the heat and pour onto a greased plate. Cut into squares when cold. (The Doldol will be black)

CHILLIE BEEF FRY

ANGLO-INDIAN CHILLIE BEEF FRY

Serves 6   Preparation time 1 hour

Ingredients
1 kg good beef cut into medium size pieces
4 green chillies
2 capsicums / green peppers cut into strips
3 big onions sliced
1 teaspoon chopped ginger
2 teaspoons chopped garlic
½ teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons vinegar
Salt to taste
½ teaspoon turmeric
3 tablespoons oil
Boil the meat in a little water till tender. Keep the remaining soup aside.
Grind the chillies, ginger, garlic, turmeric and pepper together and mix in the vinegar.
Heat oil in a pan and fry the onions till golden brown. Add the cooked meat, ground masala and the capsicum and mix well. Add the remaining soup and cook on slow heat till the meat is brown.

AFTERNOON TEA - A TOUCH OF NOSTALGIA - TOASTED TEA CAKE / TEA BISCUIT

Here is an old recipe for ENGLISH TOASTED TEA CAKE. It was also known as ROGAN in the Northern parts of India and served at Tea time in the Boarding Schools in Darjeeling, Mussoorie, Ooty, etc. it was also known as BISCUIT BUN, TEA BISCUIT, BISCUIT ROTI, etc in the South. Try it out and bring back the Nostalgia.

The concept of the English High Tea in the afternoons which was a direct throw back of the Raj quickly became an Anglo-Indian custom in the early part of the century. One could conjure up images of the English and Anglo-Indian ‘Memsahibs’ enjoying afternoon tea laid out on tables covered with snowy white tablecloths, seated on white garden chairs on a velvet green lawn and being served tiny cucumber sandwiches, cakes, scones, butterfly cakes, and pastries by obsequious servants, and drinking tea from miniature fine Bone China teacups (all legacies of the British Raj), bringing to mind, scenes of an ordered, easy, leisurely life amid gentle Indian settings in those early times.

In the true British sense, Afternoon Tea is a light meal typically eaten between 3pm and 4 30pm. But sadly this wonderful tradition has all but died out. Everyone is  too busy these days and no one has time to sit down to share these innocent pleasures with friends.  I thought I’d stir up some nostalgia and talk about this now almost forgotten tradition where, our mum’s would make the perfect cup of tea by pouring boiling hot water over 2 tablespoons of Brooke Bond Red Label tea leaves in a beautiful China or porcelain Tea Pot. The tea was set to rest for about 10 minutes to allow the tea flavour to slowly seep in the hot water. It was kept suitably warm with a Tea Cosy (which we hardly see these days. The tea would then be poured slowly into cups through a tea strainer and sugar and milk added according to one’s preference. (These days, a teabag in a cup of water passes off as Tea)
This delightful cup was always accompanied with a few choice Anglo-Indian Snacks – Some of them were Cheese, Straws, tiny cucumber sandwiches, hot mince puffs, Marie Biscuits, Scones, Toasted Tea Cakes, Crumpets, etc. Why don’t we bring this practice back in our life and invite a few friends over for a leisurely Anglo-Indian Tea Afternoon.
An English Teacake is usually a light, sweet, yeast-based bun containing dried fruits such as currants, sultanas or orange peel. It is typically split, toasted, buttered, and served with tea. It is flat and circular, with a smooth brown upper surface and a somewhat lighter underside A Tea Cake is therefore a slightly hard bun or cake. The name is commonly used for whatever bread or cake is traditionally served for afternoon tea that can be applied loosely to any kind of cake that is sturdy enough to be picked up with the fingers.

RECIPE FOR TOASTED TEA CAKE / TEA BISCUIT

Prep time: 15 minutes

Baking time: 30 minutes
Ingredients
4 cups plain flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
200 grams butter
2 tablespoons caster sugar / sugar
2 tablespoons raisins or sultanas
1 egg
½ cup water
½ cup milk
Preheat the oven to 150 degrees.
Sieve the salt, baking powder and flour together, Add the butter and mix until it is like breadcrumbs. Mix in the dried fruit, sugar, milk, and the egg and form a soft dough. (Add the water if the dough is too stiff otherwise omit the water) Split the dough into eight round balls and gently flatten them into the traditional teacake shape.
Place on a greased baking tray and bake for half an hour at 150 degrees. Remove from the oven, cool on a cooling rack.

Cut each tea cake in half and smear each  half with butter and jam or honey  while still warm accompanied by a hot cup of tea for a perfect afternoon tea treat