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...!!