Richard Oberstein

Richard Oberstein

What makes my classes fun for me is meeting new people and working with them or sometime, not quite...
This Friday's class was developed because Richard Oberstein seemed so interested after the article, I think we exchanged at least 10 calls. He even checked yesterday to see if he could bring me flowers and wine. It has been a while since someone has done that.

Bob does the wine but the flowers is another story. Well, come classtime poor Hildy (his wife) who is alergic to cats and seafood ( thank god, I had not planned shrimp!) shows up and works through the class with doses of Benadryl.

Deepta and Ma make parathas

A girl needs to learn how to make proper Daal, per Bend it Like Beckham, well the way to a man's heart is through really good pastry...
Here is Deepta holding her own with the roller.
I had quite an experience cooking with 20 preschoolers last Thursday. After, all the acolades of my cooking, imagine my shock when I see my delectable Mohon Bhog being transformed into Playdoh, oh well! such is life. I need to get back to the population council writeup.

What's in a name? Tofu ka Tikki

Tofu ka tikki ya tikka?

Here is the deal, this is an amazingly good salad that I created for one of the classes and I want to use for the book. When I am translating these recipes, Anshul takes a look and says but tikki is feminine and hence I need to change the title to Tofu ki tikki.

Folks, this is probably why I abandonned French a while back. I cannot really comprehend a language that assigns a gender to a food that is gone even before I can place it on the leaves.

Lal Saag Chorchori - Red Spinach with vegetables

Laal Saag
It is amazing how much you miss little things when they are not readily available. This is a leafy vegetable very close to spinach but red. The bengali name translates to red spinach. I have worked with red swiss chard to replicate some of the recipes, but I was besides myself with excitement when I saw this brilliant bunch at the local Bhavik store. This looks beautiful but unfortunately, these leaves are rather tough and should have been picked earlier. Anyhow here is my recipe with this.
Laal Saag Chorchori
2 tbsp mustard oil
1 tsp panch phoron
1 large bunch laal saag
1 eggpant cut into pieces
2 green chillies slit
1 tsp salt
1/3 cup oil
1/3 cup bori
Method of Preparation
1. Heat the mustard oil and add the panch phoron.
2. When this crackles, add in the saag and eggplant. Stir briskly till the saag wilts, add in the chillies, salt and cover for 15 min on low heat. The eggplant should be soft and the mixture should be a mush.
3. Heat the oil and fry the bori and drain. Mix into the chorchori and serve with rice and dal.

Khaman Dhokla - Indian Chickpea Bread

Khaman Dhokla

Like rossagollas, this dish has taken me some time to master, this recipe from a Divya Mehta worked for me.

Khaman Dhokala
Ingredients: 1 cup channa dal 1 tbs. chili ginger paste Salt to taste 1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder 1/2 cup yogurt 2 tsp. sugar Apinch of asafetida 1/2 tsp. baking soda 3 tbs. oil At the time to prepare Dhokala 3 tbs. lemon juice or 3 tsp. citric acid
To temper -- 2 tablespoons oil 1 teaspoon mustard seeds, 1 teaspoon sesame seeds, coriander leaves and coconut to garnish

Method:
Soak the dal for five hours. Grind it to paste with the yogurt.
Mix with salt, chilli-ginger paste, turmeric and sugar.
Beat mixture with hands to make it light and fluffy. Then cover with a tight lid and keep aside in a warm place for about five hours to ferment.
Now combine oil, lemon juice or citric acid in a small vessel. Add half-tsp. baking soda. It will bubble.
Stir with a spoon and pour it in the fermented batter. Mix well.
Take a vessel, big enough to hold an a deep plate.
Put about four cups of water in it and a metal ring in the center to put the plate on. Cover with a tight lid and boil water. Meanwhile grease the plate with oil and pour the batter in. Put it inside on the ring. Cover and steam for 15 to 20 minutes. The batter will rise and make spongy dhoklas. Remove carefully from inside and allow to cool for 10 minutes. Cut into square pieces and transfer to a serving plate. Prepare tempering by heating oil and mustard seeds until seeds pop up. Add sesame seeds and Switch off gas. Pour over dhoklas evenly. Sprinkle coriander leaves. Serve khaman dhoklas hot or cold with green coriander chutney.

Matarshutir Kachori - Puffed bread with pea filling

Kachori with green peas

Ingredients:

1/2 cup self raising flour
1 1/2 cup Indian whole wheat flour ( atta), if unavailable substitute with regular flour.
1 tsp nigella seeds.
4 small green chillies
Salt to taste
1 tbsps fennel seeds (powdered)
3 tbsps ghee,
¼ tsp asafetida
1 cup frozen peas
1-inch piece ginger
Oil for deep frying
Method of Preparation
1. Mix the flours with 2 tsp ghee salt and nigella seeds.
2.Add enough water a little at a time and knead to a soft dough.
3. Cover and set aside.
4. Grind the peas, ginger, chillies and fennel seeds to a fine paste.
5. Heat oil .Fry the asafetida till light brown.Add the peas paste and salt.
6.Fry well till the paste is cooked. Remove from the fire and let it cool.
7. Divide the dough into 8 balls.
8. Roll into thin discs, put 2 tsp pea filling in one disc. Cover with the other disc like round empanadas.
9. Roll out to flatten and seal.
10. Deep fry in hot oil on slow fire till golden brown.
11. Drain excess oil and remove from oil . Serve hot with Cholar Dal.

Chicken Tikka Masala - Chicken in a creamy tomato sauce

Chicken Tikka Masala (Serves 6)

INGREDIENTS:
For the Chicken Tikka

Ingredients
1 cup yogurt
Juice of one lime
1 tsp chilli powder
2 tbs tandoori masala
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
Salt to taste
2 lbs cut into bite-size pieces

Preparation
Mix the yogurt and spices to form a smooth paste.
Marinade the chicken in the above ingredients for 8-10 hrs.
Preheat the oven to 400F.
Put the chicken on a baking tray sprinkle with oil.
Bake the chicken for 15 min and broil till lightly brown (5-7min)

Sauce.
Ingredients
Remaining marinade (very important)
½ cup yogurt
3-4 tbs butter
2-3 tbs oil
1 onion finely chopped
2 tbs dried fenugreek
2 tsp garlic, minced
2 green chilies finely chopped
½ green pepper finely chopped
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons paprika
3 teaspoons salt, or to taste
1 tsp Garam Masala
3 tomatoes finely chopped
½ cup heavy cream
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

1. Heat oil in a pan and add onion and garlic.
2. Add the cumin, paprika, fenugreek and salt.
3. Cook for 5 minutes and add the tomatoes. Cook till the tomatoes soften to a pulp.
4. Set aside to cool for 10 minutes.
5. Blend the sauce with the cream.
6. Return to heat and add the chicken. Cook on low heat for 10-15 minutes.
7. Add the butter and cook till melted
8. Transfer to a serving platter, and garnish with fresh cilantro and garam masala.