Maaghi Ganesh Utsav Mahaprasad, Nandgaon
Category Archives: Food
Recipe: Meethe aalo ka chaat
All my life, I’ve stayed away from sweet potatoes, which the rest of the family savors as a fasting delicacy. Mitha Aloo Ki Chat is one appetizer that makes me pick the vegetarian selection on-board Singapore Airlines to Mumbai. Although I haven’t figured the exact recipe yet, this one works well in the interim, while my experiments continue. In the next iteration, I’m going to add some tamarind chutney. If someone has a recipe already, please do share it. Point to note is that I’ve seen exceptional results when using the steamer (my wife got for preparing momos) as against boiling in a pressure cooker.
Ingredients:
- 2 sweet potatoes
- 1 chopped onion
- 1 chopped tomato
- 1 tsp cumin powder
- 1 tsp chilli powder
- 3 tsp chat masala
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- Finely chopped Coriander
- Rock salt, to taste
Procedure:
- Steam the sweet potatoes, peel the cover & dice them
- Mix all the other ingredients together
Recipe: Baked chicken sandwich
Continuing with recipes using shredded chicken as the key ingredient, here is another one that I was keen on trying.
Ingredients:
- 8 slices of Multi-grain/Whole-wheat bread
- 2 Tomatoes, sliced
- 1 Onion, chopped
- 1 Garlic clove
- 1 Egg, whipped
- 2 tbsp Milk
- 4 Cheese slices
- Olive Oil (or butter)
- Shredded chicken
- Barbecue sauce
- Mustard sauce
- Pepper
- Chili flakes
- Lemon juice
- Thyme (optional)
- Red wine (optional)
Procedure:
- Add Barbecue sauce, Mustard sauce, Pepper, Chili flakes, Lemon juice, and if available Red wine & Thyme to the shredded chicken. Leave it to marinate for an hour
- Heat some butter in a saucepan to saute the onions with garlic. Once cooked, add the chicken and mix well.
- Grease the baking tray and lay bread slices.
- Layer the chicken, tomato slices, cheese and sprinkle salt/pepper to taste. Cover the top with a slice.
- Add some milk, and beat the egg. Pour this over the top slice.
- Place the tray in an oven, and bake at 375′ for 30 mins.
Serve hot!
Recipe: Shredded Chicken
In an earlier recipe, I mentioned my plans to write a cookbook, exclusive to recipes using shredded chicken as the key ingredient. This post is chapter 1: “Preparing your key ingredient“. As simple as it sounds, boiling chicken is an art. The trick is to cook the chicken without leaving it too dry. And here is how:
Procedure:
- Take enough water in a large vessel to fit the chicken pieces and bring it to boil – WITHOUT the chicken
- Cut the chicken breasts (or other pieces) into sizable chunks
- Once the water is boiling, reduce the flame & drop the chicken pieces into the vessel
- While the chicken boils, keep skimming the foamy protein that floats on the top (as shown below)
Recipe: Oven-toasted Chicken Bruschettas
At some point in time, I am going to write a book about cooking: “A Husband’s guide to quick recipes – a.k.a. all you need is shredded chicken”. The possibilities of what you can do with shredded chicken are limitless. I’ve used it with enchiladas, salads, nachos, pizzas and what not. Here is another easy one.
Ingredients:
- Garlic bread (6 in)
- Tomato (finely-chopped)
- Shredded chicken
- McCormick Brown Gravy mix (optional)
- Black pepper (ground)
- Oregano
- Tabasco sauce
- Amul Cheese spread (pepper)
- Mozzarella Cheese
- Butter
- Tartar sauce (for the dip)
Crackerjack Popcorn Fail
A year I tried this recipe for Homemade Cracker Jack and it turned out great! Crunchy peanuts glued to caramel pop-corn making for a nice sweet-and-salty snack. Just a few days back, I bumped into a question on Quora that asked ‘When do you realise that you are good at something?‘ to which I said: When repeating ‘it’ no longer worries you. Or when You dont need revision or preparation, and when others seek your opinion or value you experience.
In an attempt to get good at Crackerjack (and to satisfy my craving on a slow Sunday evening) I went ahead and tried it again. Only to realize that I still need to improve. The peanuts just didn’t glue with the pop-corn because my caramel sauce should’ve had more butter & water. But I’m glad that I attempted to perfect it, traced the cause of my failure and that I’m still eager to perfect it.
Recipe: Cheese Nachos with Baked Beans
Ingredients:
- Cornito (or other) Corn chips
- Canned Baked Beans (Sil @ Big Bazaar)
- Mozzarella Cheese
- Finely chopped vegetables: tomato, onions, capsicum, olives, jalapenos
- Salt, pepper, oregano to taste
Procedure:
- Arrange the nachos at the bottom of the baking dish
- Spread vegetables and then baked beans over the nachos
- Then shred the mozzarella cheese as per your dietary requirement 🙂
- Add additional layers if you’d like to bulk-produce
- Bake in the over at 180c for 5 mins before serving
Recipe: Enchiladas with Chicken & Baked Beans
I feel in love with Enchiladas back in 2010 when I first had them at Sammy Sosa. Since then, I’ve tried them multiple times at home and I just can’t get enough. If you have tortilla wraps & baked beans at hand, it only takes about 45 mins from start to serve.
Ingredients:
- Tortilla corn wraps (4)
- Finely chopped onions & capsicum (1 each)
- Chopped Olives & Jalapenos (6 each)
- Tomato puree or ketchup (3/4 cup)
- Baked beans (1/2 can)
- Oregano, Tabasco sauce, Salt to taste
- Mozarella cheese
- Shredded/pulled chicken (Pre-cooked)
Continue reading Recipe: Enchiladas with Chicken & Baked Beans
Classic Nachos
5 tips to eat all you can at a buffet
Foodies love buffets. I love buffets for 2 reasons: I get to try out a lot of dishes which I would otherwise never order; the other being I can hog as much as I like. Often times, amateurs at a buffet regret not having enjoyed their money’s worth.
After several tummy-full buffets, I have put together this list of tips for those interested.
1. Stay hungry & reach on time
Call this Buffet 101 if you wish to, but even if you don’t wish to hog, make sure you have enough hunger for a full meal. If you reach on time, you are likely to have the best lot, well-marinated, well-cooked and pampered by the chef. Refills are sometimes done in a hurry to meet the demand.
2. Browse the menu before starting
I’ve seen folks get excited by a Live pasta counter or Chicken Lollypops in the appetizer, only to find a their favorite main course or dessert for which they have no space left. Know the menu and plan your meal 🙂
3. Experiment with yourself: try everything
We usually tend to order the same things over and over when dining à la carte, Continue reading 5 tips to eat all you can at a buffet