Doi Kopi (Cauliflower in Curd Gravy)

Thursday, in my house is a veggie day...no spiritual purpose but just making a healthy eating habit...according to me at once a week we should be a vegetarian...not that on that day we eat whole weeks vegetable and rest of the week we binge on fast and unhealthy food...! And in this way I get  to cook some of my fav desi meals, be it Bengali or non-bengali, as I usually don't cook them, as the Indian veg we get over here in Leuven, Belgium,according to me is not that fresh. So rest of the week me and my family binge on non Indian food, such as, Italian, Chinese or Anglo and rest of the world, to be precise we go international or Indian non-veg foods..

I hope I am able to explain properly my Vegetarian Day, if not don't bother and come let's carry on with the dish.. So one of those veggie Thursday's I was thinking what to feed my family and I was really in the mood for cauliflower as it was available to me on that precise day!! And as usual I wanted to cook something different rather than those mundane curries we have usually...then suddenly after some brain storming I remembered this which I ate once in my aunt's house and it was actually a meat dish, cooked with chicken!!


It's a very easy and fuss free recipe..totally my kind. the main ingredient is curd other than the cauliflower...dah!!  and the rest are readily available in our kitchen pantry and cupboard!! So let's get cooking...

Ingredients:
A small head of cauliflower, broken and the florets separated 
( use half of it if the cauliflower is big)

Yogurt/Curd: 2 cups

Ginger paste: 1 tsp

Garlic paste: 1tbsp

Coriander powder: 1/2 tsp

Crushed Black Pepper: 1 1/2 tsp

Garam Masala Powder: 1/2 tsp

Whole Mustard: a pinch

Asafoetida/Hing: a pinch

Curry Leaves: a fistful

Chopped Coriander Leaves: a fistful

Dried Whole Chili: 3

Ghee/ Clarified Butter: 1 tbsp 

Salt and Sugar: to taste

Cornflour: 2 tsp


Method: First of all, wash the florets thoroughly. In a bowl mix yogurt,salt and sugar, 1tsp of black pepper, coriander powder, garam masala powder and cornflour, add the florets and leave it to marinate for 30 minutes, minimum. Heat a non-stick pan and brush a little bit of oil. Then add the marinated cauliflower, when it starts to sizzle cover and let it cook on a low heat. Don't add water, it will release on it's own.let it get stewed on its on juice.Cook until the cauliflower is cooked to your choice, I like it ' al dante'. Heat up another pan, add ghee and let it melt then add hing, mustard, whole chili and rest of the black pepper. Let it sizzle and impart aroma, pour ti on the curry and add the fresh coriander leaves and give it a good stir. Remove from the heat and let it stand at least for 15 minutes. Serve with roti or naan or pulao..your choice!!
 

Orange Up-side Down Amaretto Cheese Cake

For a long time I was longing for Cheese Cake, those dense and sweet smoothness and a crunchy base with lots of calorie,which obviously I don't need, but what can one do...can't long for a cheese cake shunning the calorie...you have to compromise sometime!! But alas here in Belgium  can't get those...not in the local bakery,which they seem to have aplenty, not that I am complaining. Belgian dessert concept  is very different from American  or English dessert. Can't find cakes in any bakery shop, no not even in supermarket.Here dessert means tart and only tart, with a base like bread, a lot different from which I had in UK, those biscuit like shell. And no, if you are thinking ..."oh! how lucky she is..she obviously get's to eat lots of chocolate tarts" then sorry to say can't get those either! Being a chocolate country you will think otherwise, but sadly speaking 'No haven't seen one yet!' Here you can get cakes if you order for birthday or wedding. So bye bye to easy solution,buying of the self and curl up on the sofa with the telly on, after dinner.No I have to make one. So  I chose an upside down one, as I was wanting to do an upside down cake also...so voila Orange Up-Side Down Amaretto Cheese Cake!! the story behind amaretto is that I had some available in my pantry...so that's that, all cleared.

You will find two kinds of cheese cake one is the set kind, with gelatine and the other one is baked, like mine one. For the baked cakes crust, you should blind bake for few minutes as it can get soggy,which happened with me! So next time am baking it first. You can also coat with chocolate or brush egg white or mix the butter in room temperature instead of melting it. These are few tips which I looked up, after mine got melted away. But melted or not it was damn tastey.But next time I sure will follow those tips and tricks. So enough of chit chat and lets straight get to the point, which obviously is sharing the recipie with you.



Take 2 oranges and skin them, remove any white stuff that sticks to its body. Keep them whole and cut in round shape. Pre-heat the oven to 350F/150C. Take a 9" round pan,mix 2tbsp brown sugar and 2 tbsp melted butter and spread evenly at the bottom of the pan. Then arrange neatly those orange roundels on top of that butter mix,cutting necessarily to make an even layer. Place cherries in the center of the oranges. ix 2 cups of crushed amaretto biscuits, 2tbsp granulated sugar and 3tbsp melted butter in a bowl and spread evenly and press gently with a bowl, at top of  the oranges. Let it sit in the fridge while we make the cheese mixture. In a bowl mix 2x 200gm tub fresh cheese,3/4 cup granulated sugar,3/4 cup sour cream vanilla essence/orange liquor and mix well. Beat in 2 eggs, one at a time. Don't get tempted to over mix. Now pour this mixture over the biscuit base and bake it for 55-60 min. or until just set in the middle. Let it cool down to the room temperature, the run a knife around the pan and invert it on a plate and fridge it for min. of 3hr or if possible over night...!!

Oven Baked Stuffed Semolina Kochuri

For some days my mind was going..khasta kochuri...khasta kochuri... that crispy outer shell, hot with a hint of sweet,Dal stuffing...the smell of hing...oh! I miss my para!! As I do not have the luxury of going to the para sweet shop and buying some,I have to bite the dust and make some for myself and sadly share a few with my daughter and hubby dear,too. As I am making at home there was lots of option open to me for the stuffing so I went for fish...Then thought why not experiment with shell too..so in went some semolina...after testing my fruit of labour, I thought I almost passed the taste of authenticity..mind the word 'authenticity'..as it was a bit too crispy..I mixed 1cup of semolina to 1 cup of flour...I think 1/2 would be right...other than no complaint..As I remained part satisfied with the journey, the fish kachori pointed out to me that I was not just craving for the kachori but the whole package...the Dal stuffing...the hum of the sweet shop...the flies..waiting in the line for your turn and being impatient..everything...!! So, keeping it in mind, that I cannot cook up these little extras(which I was really missing), I promised to myself that, I will be making these babies again,for sure, but not with fish or anything else..only with Dal,which tastes hot with a hint of sweetness and smell of hing!! And then I will take a bite into it, I will close my eyes and ....


 Ingredients: 

For Kachori Shell

Plain White Flour : 1 cup
Semolina : 1/2 cup
Oil : 1/2 cup
Sugar : 1 tbsp
Baking Soda : 1 tsp
Baking Powder : 1 tsp
Salt : to taste   

Filling

Fish Fillets : 1 1/2 cups, boiled and forked
Onion : 1/2 cup, finely chopped
Ginger Paste : 1 tsp
Garlic Paste : 2 tsp
Tomato Ketchup : 2 tbsp
Chilli Powder : 2 tsp
Cumin Powder : 1 tsp
Coriander Powder : 2 tsp
Garam Masala Powder : 1 tsp 
Green Chilli : 1tbsp,chopped (optional)
Sugar : 1 tsp
Salt : to taste 
Oil : as required

Method :
Shift flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Put the dry ingredients and oil in a bowl and mix it until it resembles bread crumb. Take 2 tsp of vinegar and mix it with 1/2 cup of water ,then add some water from the cup and mix to a firm dough. Knead the dough briefly and gently on a floured surface. Cover it with a damp cloth and keep aside for 30 min. In the mean time prepare the filling. Heat oil in a pan, add chopped onion and fry until it is lightly golden. Add garlic and ginger paste and rest of the dry masala, except the garam masala and tomato puree. Fry for some time until it releases  oil. Add the fish at this time and stir fry for some time until every thing incorporated. Then add salt and sugar and the chopped fresh chillies, in using.Sprinkle the garam masala and mix everything. Remove from the heat and leave it to be cooled.

Now let's make some kochuries. Take the dough and make round balls from it. Take one dough ball and give a shape of bowl and stuff it with the fish stuffing. Then pull the dough together and and seal it,it will take a shape of ball,press it and flatten the ball to seal the tightly. Do this with rest of the dough balls.Pre-heat your oven at 180C and line the baking tray with baking sheet.Arrange the balls on the tray and give them an egg wash or if they are non-veg brush them with milk. Bake them in the oven for 20 mins and increase the temperature to 200C for another 10 mins or golden brown in colour. Cool it ,and serve it with your choice of chutney when it's still hot.

 

 

Beer Battered Fish with Chips and Roasted Vegetables

Fish and Chips in mainly hot fired food of England. The British are so crazy about fish and chips that it remained one of few foods not to be regulated at the time of WW2!!Every British road  must contain at least one fish and chip shop...it is like our own 'sweet shops'. But fired fish was introduced to Britain by the Jewish refugee from Spain and Portugal.It is a commoner food, working class food.

O.K. enough of history lesson!! oh! the aroma of fried fish..It can't be written in one word or it's easy to say it cannot be written on the wall!! A big chunk of fish fried in oil and fat chips..not those fiddly one as we know as french fries,which we became overly familiarised by the mighty MacDonald's.When we were in England we ate fish n chips,not regularly,but often.A big...or rather huge fillet of  fish,trust me it was biiiiiiig!,we were never able to finish it one sitting,dipped in the batter  packed in a Styrofoam box with an equally big portion of chips sprinkled with salt and cheap vinegar,it was heavenly....just heavenly. When I first saw a fish and chips shop I had know idea that,how could only a fish fry, yes I was thinking on the line of our own one of the classics,though our's will be always the best!!, and some fired potato can be a good night's meal!! But after opening the paper package...I knew how wrong was...!!

But as I stated before,Friday kitchen is always a special kitchen in our house.We don't go out to eat very often, as here in Belgium good Indian food is very hard to come by and the rest are equally tasteless,so we celebrate my man's working hard by partying hard-, by cooking simple working man's food but only with a twist for the celebrations.So when my fridge was stuffed with some fillets,though not with more authentic cod or haddock, of fish,what is better than making fish and chips and being nostalgic..as we had some good memories of that period. But as  said it was Friday,a celebratory one,so why not  Beer Battered  fish and roasted veggies and some store bought chips on the side, for the nostalgia.

The fish came out surprisingly well...moist and juicy on the inside and crispy on the outside. The only thing  didn't like about English fish and chips that the fish itself is tasteless,no salt or pepper,nothing ..that is the only extra thing I did for my fish I mixed some pepper and salt with the flour for the first coating and as I didn't have sparkling water with me , I used only beer, which was a mistake, as it tasted a bit bitter for the beer.other than I followed the recipe as given in Good-Food.So here comes the recipe...


Ingredients: 

Fish Fillets : 2, making about 350gm in total

Flour : 50gm + 3 tbsp

Cornflour: 50gm

Baking Powder : 1 tsp

Beer : 75 ml

Sparkling Water : 75ml

Salt : to taste

Black Pepper : 1 tsp,freshly ground

Oil , for frying


Method:
Clean the fillet and pat dry and rub some salt,let it sit for 10 min. In a bowl mix 3 tbsp flour with ground pepper,set aside. Now the batter, in a separate mixing bowl, mix flour and cornflour and baking powder,salt and pepper, to your taste. In a cup mix both the liquid and them slowly in the dry mixture while stirring at the same time. Use up all the liquid to make lump free, smooth batter. Let the batter rest for 30 min. Now coat the fillet in the other dry mixture, the 3tbsp one. Shake off the excess and dip them in the batter and fry them in the pre-heated oil until golden brown and the fish is cooked inside. I think for about 6-8 min. Drain on kitchen paper and serve it with chips as per tradition or you can have some roasted veg on the side, like us. British usually have it with peas.









 

Quick Fruit Salsa

 

 Feeding healthy, is very hard ,to your kids..specially if it is fruit...you have to go to a strange length,spin weird stories.. even after that, may be, they will fancy one or two. At present mine has taken shine to kiwi, orange and grapes and if...if her mood is OK she pick through some strawberries!! But I am no good at stories so I have to try extra hard...So when I was searching for something to go with my aloo paratha, other than raita and achar, I came to see this healthy but,thank God,tasty and quiet frankly easy and snacking way to feed fruits to my kids,in the BBC Good Food web page. And it mentioned including  kiwi in it!!May be after reading the recipe section you will think "that's it..nothing more..!!why share this recipe!!" But trust me after making it..it was so tasty, we all were on our third ,fourth helping in no time...Come to think of that ,the salad/salsa was more hit than the paratha!! The same thing happened on the BBQ day also...it was so hit that  got a request for making it on another occasion from a guest of ours!! May be you will think..."what an odd girl, bragging over a mere fruit salad!!" But I say to you it is not bragging,,,it is that tasty,go and make it and see or rather taste it for yourself...So here goes the recipe....


Ingredients:

Choice of your kids fav fruits diced in small pieces, I used kiwi, strawberry, peaches,a mixture of green and red apple, cherry tomato..frankly your choice, 1 big bowl

Finely Chopped Onion: 1/2 cup

Sweet Chilli Sauce : 2 tsp

Extra Virgin Olive Oil: 2tbsp

Chilli :1 chopped, if you want more heat.

Salt and Black Pepper: to taste, I didn't use it  as the the sauce was quite salty

Lemon Juice: 1tbsp, optional


Method:
In a bowls mix oil, sauce , chilli and lemon juice, if using. Add the fruits to the mixture add salt and pepper, if using and give it a toss...done...nothing to it...

 

Home Made Buttermilk

Some times when you get fixed on a recipe nothing can stop you...not even absence of a certain important ingredients. Numerous times happened this to me. Sometimes you innovate, sometimes you alter and sometimes you just cut the corners. But if..what if you can't ..there are certain ingredients which are must for that recipe!! So you DIY...Do It Yourself!!
The same thing happened to me when  I was making cupcake for my daughter's school!! What to do?? A gal can't just always drop everything and run for the store!! So I DIY-ed...Thanks to Google!! What will we without her?? Can you imagine a world without her?? So enough of the talk here is the recipe..

Just pour 1 Tbsp of white vinegar and fill the cup with full fat milk. Stir and let it sit for 5-7 min. And voila!! Your buttermilk is ready, use as directed!! Yes it is that easy!!

Cherry Lemon Cupcake

On the last day of June my daughter's class went out and  summer holiday started.On 31st of August the school will reconvene and she will start an entirely new class. So on that day every body was bringing lots of gift for their class teacher..Tanta(acknowledgement for class teacher in Dutch) Nicky's hand were also full,naturally..So when I asked Gudia's(daughter) opinion she thought of the obvious...flower...as imaginative as 5years old!! But as a sensible mother and an imaginative one,thought better of  it and opted for more personal one..a cake..but time was short because last day was school was a half one too!!So I have to fix some thing on time line of 1/2 hr!! So when I saw lots of fresh cherry's on my fridge...and no..this is not free...!! I just tweaked a strawberry cupcake recipe into a Lemon Cherry one!! Oh,,,and the taste of it...you have to make it..as word cannot always convey the taste!! But when Gudia presented the still warm cake in her hand...she just did two things...one said the word warm in dutch!! and gave Mamma a big bear hug...and student got her share in return...a sweet kiss of her class teacher....isn't it nice?? So if you want the same drama in your life ...or not...you got to make this quick but tasty cake at your home!!

P.S. I made 12 and kept 4 for myself... as, I just couldn't resist myself  after getting the look of it and obviously the SMELL..as looks can sometimes be deceptive!! So here is the recipe

Ingredients:
 
All-purpose flour : 2 cups

Sugar : 1cup

Eggs  : 1

Butter/Margarine: 1 cup

Buttermilk : 200 ml

Fresh Cherries : 1 cup, pitted and halved ,retain the juice

Baking Powder : 1 tsp

Baking Soda : 1 tsp

Vanilla Essence : 2 tsp

Zest and Juice of Lemon : 1


Method:
Pre-heat the oven at 375F/190C and prepare a 12 cup baking tin with lining the tin with cupcake mould. In a large mixing bowl mix butter, buttermilk, lemon juice, vanilla essence and egg together. In a separate bowl shift flour, baking powder, baking soda. Mix in the sugar. Now slowly fold the dry ingredients in the wet mixture.Fold in the zest and the cherries and the juices and mix until just combined. Over mixing will result in dense muffins. Now fill the cups with a ice-cream scoop.Leave  a little bit of space in the top as it will rise. Bake it in the oven for about 20-25 Min's or until the a toothpick inserted in the middle of the muffins, comes out clean.

Cajun Spiced Green Beans

Of, all those  veggies out there stocked in the kitchen,when the question comes for cooking green beans, I always stare at the wall blankly and can't think of any recipe except Dal or veg pulao or mixed veg,of which all of them are over cooked and past their user friendly ratings. So, the moment I laid eyes on this recipe I knew I have to make this. It is a very different recipe for green beans. Whats great about this recipe that, one can serve it with roti, paratha or pulao. It can be served as an accompaniments with the roast or grill and what's more, it is super tasty.I don't know about you guys bit I always a weird smell out of it...may be it's me!! What ever it is, it camouflage the smell totally and you get a crisp sweet and spicy dish out of this boring tasteless veg. If you are serving it with roast or grill..it is better that you blanch the beans first, as it can get a bit tricky to maintain it's crispiness. As was going to serve it as a side dish for my rice  cooked it in the pan.But crispiness is always a personal choice. For me, for roast and grill it is crisp and for roti, rice and pulao's a wee bit well cooked, not cooked to death though. So here goes the recipe.....

Ingredients:

300gm  Green Beans,halved
1  Large Tomato, pureed
1  Tbsp Garlic,paste
3-4  Tbsp Cajun Spice Mix
2  Red Chilli, Dried
1  Tbsp Sugar
1/2  Tsp Sesame Seeds
2  Tsp Lemon Juice
2  Tsp Green Chillies, chopped (optional)
1/2  Cup Water
Onion Seed/Nigella Seed/Kali Jeera, a pinch
Salt, to taste


Method:
Heat oil in a pan, add the Kali jeera and the dried chillies. When the jeera starts to splutter and the chillies emanate smell, add the tomato puree and the garlic paste, Stir fry for couple of minutes or until the raw smell is gone. Now add those beans and stir fry for a minute,add water and cover and cook until it's soft but but holding it's shape. Add the Cajun mix and stir fry until the oil separates. It should be done in 1-2 min. Add the lemon juice and the chopped chilli, if using, toss and remove from the heat.



P.S. you can adjust the heat of the stir fry according to your taste,as the cajun spice mix is itself very hot.
Be careful about the water as it is supposed to be stir fry.So it should hold it's shape.
Always keep in mind that, when you add salt and cover bean will impart some water.
You can cut the beans in short, if you like. 











 

Ginger Apple Coffee Cake

Yesterday I made this recipe, as my fridge was stuffed with lots of apples, some bought and some free stuff!! Yes free!! As my husband  often gets free fruits from his office...sometimes there are other fruits too,orange or banana...but this time it is apple...I personally don't like apple much as my daughter. In this question me and my daughter are same...we both don't like red rose apple as everybody does..We rather like the green one.. According to me it is more crisp and tasty than the red ones...It's sweet and sour attracts me more!! So as coaxing didn't work much... and with a apple stuffed fridge, in my kitchen I used a sneaky way to feed her this 5 a day fruit!! And truly speaking not just her, the whole family!! I altered the recipe a little,  would rather say not altercation but addition...Coffee!! It turned out very nice...truly soft and not too sweet...the only hitch was, the recipe asked to add 1/2 cup of oil,which I didn't use, as I was out of vegetable oil at that certain moment!! You can ask how can anybody be out of cooking oil!! Yes I am a bit weird this way.. So it turned out tad  dry,but I am not complaining and my family,too.Apples, shredded and seasoned with lots of gingerbread spices, ground ginger and crystallised ginger pieces, melt into  this cake.Brown Sugar gives a caramelised taste.



 

Ingredients
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons ground ginger
½ teaspoon ground cloves
¼ teaspoon ground star anise
1 cup light brown sugar
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
4 eggs
150 gm(1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cool but still liquid
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 medium apples cored, peeled, and coarsely shredded
½ cup chopped crystallised ginger

Method:
Preheat the oven at 175C/350F.Butter and flour a 10''cake tin, tap out  the excess. In a separate bowl mix flour, baking powder, baking soda and all the spices. Sieve the mixture. n a separate bowl beat in a medium high  speed, both the sugars and the eggs for two min. Then add the butter and vanilla flavour and again mix for 2 min. Next add the grated apples,without it's accumulated juices. Mix it on a low speed, until just combined. Now stir in the crystallised ginger and pour the mixture in the previously ready buttered and floured pan. Bake it for 55-60 min or until a skewer inserted and comes out clean. When you can handle the pan remove the cake from the tin and cool it on a wire rack. Once completely cooled sprinkle the cake with powdered sugar.


Recipe Source: http://www.bostonglobe.com

Cabbage and Sausage Cream Soup

In my family every body always falls for sausages... my 5 year old only knows two food names...sausage and chicken...when ever I present a meal in front her she asks only one question"what is it?? sausage/chicken??" So yesterday when she is in those moody like ways, you know,every mother has to face it.."don't like eating"!!,way,I thought that there is quiet a lot of sausage in the fridge,lets bribe her...

Then there is that cabbage head which  I bought, keeping in mind, that ,I would try out something new other than "bandhakopir tarkari"(cabbage curry). I would think something out of the box...when ever I think of cabbage I can't go beyond that torkari,with peas and potato. It's like a staple, in Bengali winter!! But no.. I wanted something new this time...so surf, surf, and after lots of surfing on the net  got this delicious looking, bowl of soup, recipe!! As I didn't have exact ingredients I have to alter a tiny-winy bit.  didn't have celery so I added garlic and onion stalk cube...And also I didn't had those mentioned sausages...bratwurst, knackwurst or kielbasa,first two is I think German and the last one is Polish. I was stocked with regular Belgian pork sausage....so I altered it with that..and voila this, healthy to the body,good for the soul and above all,easy to cook, recipe is formed..So here goes my recipe friends!!


Ingredients:

1 lb   fully cooked pork sausage, sliced into 1/2 inch slices

3-4   potatoes, peeled and cubed

1 medium  onion, chopped

1/2 small  head cabbage, shredded

2 medium  Carrots, sliced

3-4 mushrooms, thickly sliced 

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

3 cup   milk

3 tbsp   all purpose flour

1 cup  emmental, shredded

1 tbsp chopped garlic

1 onion and garlic stock cube,crumbled

Chilli Flakes,optional

Method: 

In a big pan combine all the vegetables and sausages. Add the stock cube and 3 cups of hot water. Bring it to a boil and reduce the heat and simmer.When the potatoes are nearly half done add the cabbage and mushroom. Cook until all the veggies are properly cooked. Add half the amount of milk now. Mix remaining milk and flour and make a paste pour it over the soup. When it turns thick and bubbly add the cheese and ground pepper, give it a stir and remove it from the heat. Serve it with your choice of bread and extra dose of ground pepper and chilli flakes...I served it with a easy Cheese and Garlic Quick Bread!!

P.S. You can use any kind of sausage..chicken or those veggie kind. Or just boneless chicken pieces....or you can totally omit the meat and go for veggie option..In that case add some corn or green peas for the crunch and increase the amount of mushroom.. It will give a chewy and meaty  effect!!

Recipe Source:http://www.justapinch.com

 

Sujir Jhaal Nimki (Spicy Semolina Cracker)

 I was doing my usual scrounging  about recipe this evening!!...yeah you guys heard right..evening!! Hubby is late and after feeding my munchkin,she wanted to see cartoon!!. always it boils down to cartoon sometime I resist,sometimes I just simply give in. This time I did the last one,just gave in. So got some spare time and thought that should use it properly so started scrounging for my next project..some thing fancy..some thing great,some thing, by which I can prove that I am worthy of my kitchen...yes I know I am guilty of sounding wee bit melodramatic,but you get the point. I wanted something to challenge myself. So while foraging I saw some wonderful recipe and some awful,disgusting,strange ,down right weird recipes.  Weird flavours, strange ingredients...one cake recipe called for pickled cherry blossom!! Another asked sweetened adzuki beans...cherry blossom essence what happened to simplicity?? Simple vanilla essence or cocoa or strawberry puree, or anything except weird pickled cherry blossom!! I always prefer simple food,comfort food rather than the fancy ones. to me fancy foods ,fancy ingredients are not for eating or using stand them on the alter and worship..like a movie star..untouchable. Give me those over used, everyday ingredients any day and I'll create magic(or try to),don't need those costly and fancy or the weird sounding things.

So I settled on this simple and mainly QUICK snack!! This is another thing I like to eat..my favourite type of food!! Yah...yah I know it's not healthy..blah..blah..but who cares right!! Just like to hear the  munch, munch sound!! I think everybody who likes food would agree with me!! I made this simple,yeah,fried snack, Nimki(Flour Crisps), a very popular type of snack of my native land West Bengal.It is mainly evening snacks mainly eaten, in the evening with tea. But it is not just any nimki it is made out of semolina..which is always available in a Bengali pantry.So as a true bong gal,as I am, it was available in my Belgique  pantry,too. And my mind was crying for nimki for some days, those salty or sweet diamond shaped fried bliss...which is unfortunately not available here in Belgium..though not totally true, sometimes it is available though in the local Asian store,with which I defused my hankering for nimki,temporarily though,because I was not satisfied with the taste.it was bit greasy!! So I took upon myself to satisfy myself,which we should do it often.So while I was searching for the nimki recipe I came in contact with those some fancy, some straight forwardly awful recipe, which compelled to write these lots of words.But trust me,it will be ready in a lot less time!! Just spare some 10 min and bam you are enjoying it with hot tea or coffee!!

But now no more word except those which only give you the recipe.

Ingredients

1. Semolina – 1 cup
2. Nigella seeds – ½ tsp
3. Banking powder – 1 tsp
4. Coriander Leaves – chopped, as desired
5. Chili powder – 1 tsp
6. Black pepper powder  - ½ tsp
7. Salt – to taste
8. Water – as required
9. Flour – for rolling
10. Oil – as required

Method

• In a mixing bowl, mix together the semolina, baking powder, chili powder, nigella seeds, black pepper powder and salt. Add chopped coriander leaves, if desired. Mix a little water to make a paste of rolling consistency.
• Add 3 – 4 tbsp oil and mix well. Roll the dough on a lightly floured surface into a thin flat-bread. Dice it into desired shapes of small pieces. Heat oil in a frying pan, and deep fry the pieces. 
• Dry them in a kitchen paper to absorb excess oil. Serve warm with mayonnaise.

Chocolate Ganache Tart

 The first Sunday, of the starting of the summer month,we had our first ever bbq party!! It was a very small gathering..only about 10 head counts!! Though we (to be precise,hubby was cool as those cold summer beer) are very nervous..it was a first ever bbq...we have done lots of dinner or launch party but not bbq..because in India it is not popular or rather non existent...When we rented the house we promised we will do at least a bbq party and can boast that we are an all rounder at throwing party!! So we did and threw a party and decided to make my life more harder by deciding to make a chocolate tart!! Difficult because  never ever made one before and chose to do so on a party which was also new to us...something of a double accomplishment!!

I am always very scared about making pie or tart...it very tricky to handle..as I don't like to cheat..buying premade pastry case which is not available to the Belgium super market or pre rolled ones.I like to make mine from the scratch which always turned out tricky at all my previous venture...either it shrank or over cooked or under cooked!! So I chose this precise one as it don't have those tricky rolling and handling,though it has some challenge on its own..and I was also short of time as the filling doesn't require cooking ,though it needed some setting time which i was dubious about providing, between those handling of the meat and marinating or cutting vegetables and fruit for salads. But it looked easy and  took up the challenge...

There was another reason for taking that challenge..next day was Father's Day and wanted to have him some thing sweet,though one day earlier(though turned out I was a whole week early)...see I cheated..ultimately!! Where am I,...yeah pie making..this precise recipe needed no kneading and rolling ,just mixing and spreading and chilling and straight bake... Though the spreading turned out to be a bit tricky for me..It turned out very difficult for me to spread the base evenly..though i managed in the end by pressing it by hand when it was bit hot and soft and still spreadable..

In the end all went well, it set properly and every body enjoyed it with the game and I can say to you guys very proudly that I got a request to make it again! So here goes the recipe so that you can make it and hear the silence!!

INGREDIENTS
  Crust:

• 8 tbsp/120gm butter (1 stick), melted
• 3 tbsp granulated sugar
• 1 tbsp vanilla essence
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

   Filling:

• 8 ounces/225gm bittersweet chocolate
• 4 ounces/120gm semisweet chocolate
• 4 tbsp butter/60gm (1/2 stick), cut into small pieces
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 3 tbsp granulated sugar 

 Method

Crust

Heat the oven to 350°F and arrange a rack in the middle.Combine butter, sugar, vanilla essence, and salt in a large bowl and stir until evenly incorporated. Add flour and stir until just combined and a soft dough forms.Flour a 9-inch tart pan with a removable bottom. Now transfer the flour mixture into the tart mould. Using a measuring cup or your fingers, evenly press the dough into the bottom and up the sides of the pan, don't forget to flour the cup occasionally to prevent sticking.to the cup.Cover the tart shell with plastic wrap and let it rest in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. Once chilled, prick it all over with a fork and bake until golden brown, about 20 to 25 minutes.Remove from the oven and cool completely on a wire rack.

Filling:
Place chocolate and butter in a medium bowl and set aside.Combine cream, sugar, and salt in a small saucepan over medium heat and stir until sugar dissolves and liquid is just at a simmer, about 4 minutes. Pour the cream mixture over chocolate and butter and let sit until melted, about 4 minutes. Gently stir until smooth.Pour the ganache in the cooled tart shell and transfer to the refrigerator. Chill until set, about 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
For decoration sprinkle icing sugar on the top and arrange some raspberries or strawberries before serving.

Recipe Source:www.allfood.recipes

Herby Chorizo and Sausage Meatball 

Hi, today am writing my first ever blog, nervous ..how will it go ... will everybody like it??Am I writing it properly, will everybody like it reading?? Then hubby said "get on with it!! It's s blog you are not writing poetry!!You don't need others blessings to write  blog ... your blog!! Just write what ever you have on your mind!!" So here I am pouring out my mind. Went to Ikea today and tired as a donkey... but the bright side is no cooking today... though doesn't ring well, cooking blog and no cooking today!! My motto is always keep a door open... taking a break now and then doesn't kill anybody!!Enough of soul searching ... hubby is taking care of everything ... kid ... the food(may be he should write the blog ... ha!!)...sorting the shopping we did ... while I keep on soul searching and find some inspiration for the blog.

I am an expat housewife in Belgium, from India with a kid, sweet little girl of 4. Love cooking and want to share some of my kitchen experience with everybody out there... when ever I can find time for it ... there now that the  intro part is over now I can do what I do best...cooking...!!So let's get on with the business..

         

Yesterday was Friday, my favorite day of the week, Monday is the east ... next day is Saturday. .. alarm free day...you can lie in that extra minute, or if you wish it could be hour, your choice really. which you cannot  find on other five days!! So Friday dinner is  always something special for me..in a way it's a celebratory one and icing  on the cake no dieting...yippi!!So on Friday I always try to make something which we can eat without usual fork, knife and spoon!!So I concocted up Herby Chorizo and Sausage Meatball...mixture of two  recipe ... or rather one recipe and one idea. Idea is from a burger recipe app on  my phone and the recipe is from The Slow Roasted Italian. So here goes the recipe .

Herby Chorizo and Sausage Meatball

makes 15 meatballs

500gm pork mince
3" chorizo,skin removed (cut from a big log)

½ cup breadcrumbs

¼ cup fresh grated cheese

2 garlic cloves

3 tbsp onion,chopped

2 tbsp tomato concentrate (I used Heinz)

1 tbsp fresh coriander, chopped

1 tbsp fresh thyme, chopped

1 tbsp Italian dried herbs mix

Salt to taste

¼ teaspoon 

fresh cracked black pepper

1 large egg, lightly beaten

2 chillies,chopped (optional)

Preheat the oven to 375F/190C. Prepare a baking sheet by lining with parchment paper.In a chopper put garlic,coriander,chorizo and pulse it.Don't make a mince out of it, there should be a bite.In a large mixing bowl, combine all the ingredients. Mix well, do not over mix or your  meatballs will be hard!!

Using a 2 tbsp scoop, portion out meat and place on baking sheet. After all meatballs have been scooped onto tray, roll into balls, by  lightly wetting your hands, so that the balls shape better and cracks less.Bake in the oven for 20 min.
Remove and transfer to sauce or serve immediately.

Serve it as simple finger food,with any dip on the side or your any favourite sauce.I served it with fruit salsa,whose recipe is for a later date.

N.B. If you are serving it as a  finger food then use 1 tbsp portion mince.