Gazpacho, the cold soup

Gazpacho is a soup made of raw vegetables and served cold. It originated in Southern Spain. Gazpacho is widely eaten in Spain and Portugal especially in the hot summer months as it is very refreshing.

Traditionally, gazpacho was made by pounding the vegetables in a mortar with a pestle. This laborious method is still used sometimes as it helps keep the gazpacho cool and does not give a completely smooth consistency created by blenders and food processors. A traditional way of preparation was to pound garlic cloves in a mortar, then a little soaked stale bread, olive oil and salt were added to make a paste. The very ripe tomatoes and vinegar were added to this mix.  In the days before refrigeration the gazpacho was left in an unglazed earthenware pot to cool by evaporation, and some water was added.

The basic Gazpacho gave rise to many variants. Gazpacho can be classified by color. Red, white and pale green are the colors of the different kinds of Gazpacho. The red or the basic one includes tomatoes, white one does not include tomatoes but it includes some dried fruits and the last variant the green one is made with certain spices and condiments.

Often Gazpacho is made with sour cream and then some vegetables are added for a flavor. I tried to make gazpacho a little bit more healthy so I completely omitted the sour cream. Instead I used butter milk and yogurt to give a smooth texture plus the cucumber, basil, mint and sprig onion were added to fit into the true definition of Gazpacho.

Ingredients:

2 cups butter milk, 4 tbsp of fresh yogurt, 1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, 1/2 cup fresh mint leaves, 1 English cucumber peeled, seeds removed and chopped in to small pieces, 1/2 cup scallion chopped, salt to taste, 1 tbsp juice of fresh lemon, hot sauce or tabasco (optional)

Method:

Puree yogurt, butter milk, basil, mint, scallion in a blender. Add cucumber. Pulse until just combined but still slightly chunky.
Stir in lemon juice and hot sauce, and season with salt. Chill soup at least 2 hours before serving. This soup is best served the same day. You may top each serving with thin cucumber slices if desired.

Gourmet Upma

Other day I was meeting some old friends over brunch.  It was a pot luck so I decided to make Upma as my share of dishes to the bruch spread.  Upma is a common South Indian breakfast dish cooked as a thick porridge from dry roasted semolina.   There are many ways of preparing Upma.  In fact every cook usually incorporates variations to Upma flavor by adding certain spices and condiments.

Upma can be made in a very simple and basic way by not adding any condiments.  In fact the basic one would be just semolina, water, salt and mustard seeds.  I have added some other spices and condiments and turned the Upma into a gourmet one.  My friends liked it so much that they took second and third helpings.  Here is me recipe:

Ingredients:

1 cup Semolina(sooji), 2 cups of boiling water, 1 medium onion chopped finely, 1/2 cup chopped red pepper(bell pepper),  1 medium potato boiled and cut into small cubes, 1/2 tsp cumin seeds, 1/2 tsp mustard seeds, 12 - 15 curry leaves, 3 tsp cooking oil, 1 tsp ghee, 1/4 cup roasted peanuts, 1/4 cup cashews, 1/2 tsp coriander powder, salt to taste

Method:

Dry roast semolina.  You may roast semolina a day before and put in a airtight container.  

Heat the cooking oil, add cumin seeds and after 10 seconds add mustard seeds.  When they stop spluttering, add onion.  When onion turn light brown, add red pepper and potato cubes.  Sauté this mix for  two minutes.  Add curry leaves, peanuts, cashews and coriander powder.  Now add roasted semolina to this. 

Mix it well and add salt.  Add two cups of boiling water to this mix and stir continuously till the mixture thickens.

At the end, sprinkle melted ghee and stir it once.

Enjoy hot with pickle, chutney or just a cup of tea or coffee.

Rasgulla the King of Indian Sweets

Rasgulla is a syrupy sweet of Bengal and Orissa. It is mainly prepared by kneading chenna(the cottage cheese of India). These are rolled into small balls, and then boiled in light syrup made of sugar. This is done until the sugar enters the balls. Rasgulla or Rasagolla(as called in Bengal) has a very interesting history.

Rasgullas were invented in the holy city of Puri(Orissa)back in the 13th century. The Hindu female deity Lakshmi(Goddess of wealth) is served rasagollas on the last day of the annual Rath Yatra festival at Puri. Since this is almost 700 year old tradition the existence of this white spongy sweet is that old too.

The recipe or rasgulla then spread from Orissa to West Bengal. All this happened during the Renaissance when the Brahmin cooks from Orissa were employed by the Bengali families. It was from here that the various Orissa delicacies got incorporated into the Bengali kitchen.

Nobin Das, who was a confectioner in Kolkata is considered as the father of rasgulla. He is famously known as "Rasagolla's Columbus". He modified the original recipe of this sweet to give it longer shelf life. It was K.C. Das, son of Nobin Das who started the canned Rasgulla concept and that is how Rasgulla reached other parts of India. With the time, it gained popularity around the wold.

I consider Rasgulla as the king of all Indian sweets. If you eat one Rasgulla it is very hard to resist not to take second or third helping.

I decided to make the Rasgulla at home.  Here is my simple recipe:

Ingredients:

5 cups of milk, 3 tbsp of lemon juice, 1 cup of sugar, 4 cups of water, 1/2 tsp of rose or kewra essence

Method:

Take milk in a heavy pan and boil on the medium flame. When milk starts to boil, reduce the flame and add lemon juice gradually. Stir it gently till milk starts to curdle. Turn off the flame and let it cool off for a while. Take cheese cloth, place it on a colander and let curdled milk pass through the cheese cloth. Whey will drain away and thick creamy chenna will be left in the cheese cloth. Run this chenna or paneer under the cold water so that no residues of lemon are left in this. Now collect the opposite links of the cheese cloth tie then on the water tap of the kitchen sink.

Let all the water drain away. It takes almost an hour to two hours. After two hours or so, you may squeeze the chenna bundle gently between your palms so that no excess water is left. Transfer the chenna into a pan and knead it for 25 minutes. Put a drop of oil on your hands and make small round balls. When all the balls are made, place these on a plate.

In the meanwhile, make a sugar syrup by adding one cup of sugar to four cups of water in an uncovered pressure cooker. Give it a boil till all the sugar is dissolved. Now put six or seven of the white chenna balls in the pressure cooker(depends on the size of your cooker) and close the lid of the cooker. These chenna balls will expand in the sugar syrup. When steam starts to build, reduce the flame to low and put the timer for exact 7 minutes. Turn off the stove and immediately put the pressure cooker under the cold water tap in the kitchen sink. This will help opening the lid.

Take out the rasgullas in a big bowl with some syrup. Let them cool off.  Add rose or kewra essence to the bowl.  Then put this bowl in the refrigerator.

Your mouth watering Bengali rasgullas are ready. Enjoy with friends and family.

Note:

It will be a good idea to make chenna a night before so that by next morning all the whey will drain away.  If little water is left in the chenna, your rasgullas will turn flat or even break.

Pongal : the comfort food

One of those days when your stomach is acting out and you want to have some food which gives you that soothing feeling, it is Pongal. Pongal in South India and khichdi in North India are the comfort foods. They are pretty much made with same ingredients. Only difference is the way they are cooked.

We happen to go to Balaji temple of Greater Chicago in Aurora to attend a Annprashan(when a six month old kid eats solid food). This temple cafeteria has the best food. We ordered yogurt rice, tamarind rice,dosa, idli, vada and Pongal . Pongal was delicious beyond words. So much so, my niece even joked that she was thinking of coming to this cafeteria on a date with her husband just to enjoy freshly made Pongal.

I decided to make this comfort food. The end result was pretty good. So here is the recipe I am too glad to share with you all.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup rice(washed twice), 1/4 cup mung dal(green gram yellow or split)washed, salt to taste, 5 or 6 cashews(split into halves and pan fried), 1/2 tsp of asafetida(hing powder), 1 tsp ginger grated, 1 tsp cumin, 1 tsp mustard seeds, 1 tsp pepper corn, 1 tbsp cooking oil, 1 tsp ghee, 7 or 8 curry leaves

Method:

Heat oil in a deep pan.  Fry clean mung dal and rice for one minute. Add salt and 1/2 tsp of cumin seeds.  Add three cups of water.  Either pressure cook it for three or four whistles or cook in a pan till rice is mushy.

Heat ghee,  add hing powder, grated ginger, sauté for two seconds.  Add other half of cumin, mustard seeds, peppercorn and curry leaves. Add fried cashews and mix well. Decorate with a couple of cashews.

Enjoy with yogurt or pickle.

Chickpeas(Channa) Punjabi style

There is hardly anyone who would not like this high protein classic beans, called Channa or Chickpeas or Garbanzo beans.  Chickpeas are cooked in varied ways all over the world.  But the chickpeas or channa cooked in Punjabi style has a perfect blend of spices and the aroma of this dish brings one home.  In fact if you have tasted the street food of Delhi, it is not possible to miss eating Chana bhatura(bread) at the corner shop of your neighborhood.

My sister who has been living in Chicago for half a century has been cooking channa (chickpeas) for every party or cookout on popular demand.  Her channa  masala  has such a distinct taste that all Indian and American friends love this dish.  It has a perfect blend of spices and condiments..

Here is her way of cooking channa:

Cham Cham : the most delicious Indian sweet

After being in Chicago over a month and eating healthy food, I had a craving for Indian sweet called Cham Cham.  The sweet shops in India town sell most sweets but their taste and flavor is no match to the  sweets prepared in India: original and authentic.  So I decided to make this sweet at home.

Cham Cham is a Bengali sweet which originated in the 19th century India.  Over the years it has evolved into varied shapes, colors and flavors. Cham Cham is not just a delicious sweetmeat, it has a very appetizing  look too.  No wonder some people use Cham Cham as a term of endearment for their loved ones.  If you have tasted Cham Cham before, you are sure to drool at the very thought of it.  Those of you who have not tasted it, it has matchless flavor which can't be explained in words.

Cham Cham is made with freshly prepared chena or paneer.

Ingredients:

For chena and syrup:

5 cups of milk, 3 tbsp of lemon juice, 2 cups of sugar, 4 cups of water

For stuffing:

1/4 cup mawa or khoya, 1/4 tsp cardamom powder, 3 tbsp confectioner sugar, 3 drops kewra essence, 10-12 saffron threads, 5-6 pistachios chopped finely.

Method:

Take milk in a heavy pan and boil it on the medium flame.  When milk starts to boil, reduce the flame and add lemon juice gradually. Stir it gently.  Milk will start to curdle.  Turn of the stove and let it cool off a bit.  Take cheese cloth or any muslin cloth.  Place it on a colander and let the curdled milk pass through this muslin cloth.  Whey will drain away and thick chena will be left in the cloth.  Run this chena or paneer under the cold water tap so that no residues of lemon are left in the chena.  Now collect the opposite links of the cheese cloth, tie them and hang on the water tap in your kitchen sink.

Let all the water drain away.  It takes almost an hour. After an hour you may squeeze the chena bundle gently between your palms so that no excess water is left. Transfer the chena into a pan and knead it for 30-35 minutes. Put a drop of oil on your hands and make round balls.  When all the balls are made, turn these into oval shape by pressing the front and the sides. Place these on a plate.

In the meanwhile prepare the sugar syrup by adding 2 cups of sugar and 4 cups of water in an uncovered pressure cooker.  Boil it till all sugar dissolves.  Add saffron threads so that Cham Cham turns light yellow.  I could add food color but I wanted to go organic and that is why I preferred saffron threads.  Now put only 6 or 7 prepared Cham Cham to this syrup.  Cham Cham expands in the sweet syrup.  Close the lid of the pressure cooker.  When steam starts to build or it whistles once, reduce the flame and put timer for exact seven minutes.  Now turn off the stove and place the cooker under the cold water in the kitchen sink immediately.

Open the cooker and place the Cham Cham in a flat big bowl with some sugar syrup.  Let it cool completely.  Place this bowl in the refrigerator for two hours so that Cham Cham turn a little hard.

Method for Stuffing:

Mash khoya or mawa with a spoon, add cardamom powder, confectioner sugar and mix well.  Now take the hard Cham Cham, slit it vertically in the middle, stuff it with khoya mix and put it back in the same flat plate.  Repeat this process with all the Cham Cham pieces.  When all is done, sprinkle the kewra essence and garnish with chopped pistachio.

Your delicious Cham Cham is ready.  Cham Cham tastes better after 10-12 hours as it soaks the syrup more.  It can stay fresh in the refrigerator for a week in a covered bowl.  Enjoy.

Split green gram(Moong Dal chilka) with Spinach

Other day my sister cooked split green gram and spinach combination for dinner.  This was so flavorful and tasty that it was very hard not to take second or even third helping with my chapatis and rice.  I fell so much in love with this combo that next day I had it as a soup.
Come to think of it, this combination of split green gram ( mung dal )with spinach is a boon providing us with the essential nutrients.
Green gram split is high in fiber.  If you are having trouble losing weight because of the hunger pangs when you reduce your calories intake, try adding green gram to your diet.  One cup of green gram serving has 15 grams of fiber and will fill you up.  One cup of this lentil provides 537 milligrams of potassium which helps reduce high blood pressure.  It is a great source of 14 grams of protein per serving.
Similarly, spinach has iron, vitamins and minerals essential for our well being.  This dark green leafy vegetable is important for our skin. hair and bone health.  It provides us with proteins as well.

I am very happy sharing that recipe with you all which is super yummy and beneficial.

Ingredients:

1 cup mung dal(split green gram), 2 cups spinach leaves washed and chopped, 3 cups water, 2 tsp cooking oil, 2 fresh tomatoes chopped finely, 1 tsp cumin seeds, 1/4 tsp asafoetida(hing), 1 tsp turmeric, 3 cloves of garlic minced,  1 tsp mustard seeds, 1 onion chopped into small pcs., 1 tsp fresh ginger grated, 1 tbsp ghee or clarifying butter, salt to taste, 1 tsp coriander powder, 1 tsp garam masala or any curry powder.

Method:

Wash mung dal in the running water and keep it aside.
 In the pressure cooker, heat cooking oil, add asafoetida, cumin seeds and turmeric in that order.  Reduce the flame to slow.  Add minced garlic and saute for five seconds.  Add washed dal to the cooker.
Now add spinach, tomatoes and water to this mix.  Increase the flame to medium.  Close the lid and let pressure cook it till two whistles.  Turn off the flame.
In a separate pan, heat ghee or butter and add mustard seeds.  When they stop spluttering add ginger and onion and cook on the slow flame.  Now add salt as per your taste. Sprinkle coriander powder on this mix.  Once pressure cooker opens up add this mix to the cooked dal and spinach.  Let it simmer for 8 to 10 minutes.  Turn off the flame and add garam masala.  Close the lid so that flavors of the spices remain intact.
Enjoy with rice or chapati.  You may enjoy this as a soup.