I’ve read often, that nothing beats a hot cheesy souffle. I agree TOTALLY. But let me tell you something, few things beat a cheese souffle eaten lukewarm or cool either!

The first time I ate one was years ago. A colleague brought some for lunch, left-over from the day before. Well as you can imagine, it was far from hot and fresh out of the oven. But Yummmm! After that I’ve always wanted to make one, took the recipe from her mom, and soon after lost it. So I never got round to it. And I kind of wasn’t sure if I would be able to get that crucial light ‘rise’.

Well today, I did! Not only did it rise, it turned perfect and golden and for a few seconds there I thought it would overflow. And then, when it was done I rushed around with my camera because it looked like it was going to sink right away.
It did a bit, but for a change I got so many great pictures, you can actually smell the cheesy aromas. When finally I let everyone spoon it into their plates, not surprisingly it was far from hot, and certaily not risen very high, but I didn’t hear anyone complaining. But believe me it was still awesome; cheesy, peppery, fragrant.

I think I’ve looked up a cheese souffle about half a dozen times, but this is an adaptation from an old cutting from an ElleDecor magazine. It just fell out of something I was tidying away, and being Saturday, I had no excuses. The problem with lots of their recipe cards, that I’ve collected and never used, is that they leave too much space for guesswork – which doesn’t suit a very average cook like me, I like everything s-p-e-l-l-e-d out, and they often forget to include/use/give measures of some ingredients that they mention elsewhere in the recipe.
So here it is with a few adaptations.

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CHEESE SOUFFLE Serves 6
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This is what I read somewhere — A hot soufflé is meant to be eaten right after baking and doesn’t hold its shape and lightness for very long. It’s almost as if they can just be relied on to “hold their breath” for about 15 minutes. Their lightness and that delightful puffed up golden look depends greatly one how well the egg-white has been beaten and the speed between the beating, the baking and the serving.
The great thing about this recipe is that it can be mixed up to 3 hours ahead of time, which is really useful if you’re expecting guests.

INGREDIENTS
2 heaped tablespoons flour, sifted
2 heaped tablespoons dry potato flakes (the recipe gives the option of an equivalent amount of cornmeal)
2 cups milk
4 eggs
1 cup full of grated cheddar cheese
1/2 teaspoon crushed basil
1/2 teaspoon crushed oregano
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 tablespoon butter
Salt to taste. I used salted butter and the cheese is salty enough for me so I used less than 1/2 a tsp more (more…)

We had Chef Venky offering to make us a lunch treat at work again last week. When he suggested the ubiquitous Anda Bhurji I can’t say I was very thrilled – I’m not a huge egg fan anyway, but everyone seemed to be quite pleased so Anda Bhurji it was. And then it was served up with hot buttered pav, and I must point out absolutely sizzling in oil, and very spicy because that’s they way most of us in this office like our food, but mmmmmmmmmm! it was awesome. And of course sinful. But then naturally.
Look out for the step-by-step photos.
This is incidentally a great last minute dish to rustle up when you run out of food in the fridge (give or take some oil, butter and chilies). Venky took about 25 minutes from chopping to serving, cooking for 10 of us.
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ANDA BHURJI ( MASALA SCRAMBLED EGGS ) Serves 6
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INGREDIENTS
6 eggs
4 onions chopped fine
2 tomatoes chopped fine
2 green chillies sliced into 4-5 pieces
1 teaspoon red chili powder
1 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon coriander powder
1 teaspoon garam masala
1/2 cup fresh coriander leaves, chopped
1/2 cup oil (that was Venky’s amount. If I did it it would be 1/3 of that at most!)
1 tablespoon butter (!)
Salt to taste

PREPARATION
Fry the onions in all the oil till golden brown.

Add the chilies, fry some more.

Add the tomatoes and cook till tender.

Meanwhile beat up the eggs thoroughly. Add when the rest is fried through, along with the turmeric and chili powder, and salt to taste. Stir constantly.

Add the garam masala and coriander leaves.

When the egg sets to the consistency you like, – shouldn’t be more than 3-4 minutes, add the butter and coriander leaves just before you take off the stove, stir and take off the heat.

Serve steaming with hot. We had it with pav that was also roasted on a skillet with dabs of butter!

The house has been looking so beautiful all decorated for Christmas; the small tree, the fairy lights and the wreath. It was my 3 year olds idea, but yes, we just had to have a Christmas party, and we had the extended family over.
Here’s the menu, we had a rather un-Christmas meal – Potato Mayo salad, Chicken Farchas, White rice and Spicy Prawn Curry with Kachumber and easy Chocolate Banana Crepes for dessert.
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Chocolate Banana Crepes Serves 6
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INGREDIENTS
5 bananas at least 6 inches long
2 tablespoons drinking chocolate powder
1 tablespoon coffee
3 tablespoons cinnamon powder
Hershey’s Chocolate Sauce

For the crepes
4 eggs
2 cups milk
3 tablespoons all purpose flour
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons sugar
1 banana

PREPARATION
- Beat together all the ingredients for the crepes except the bananas. Mash one banana smoothly and mix in only just before making the crepes.

- Slice the 5 bananas down the center and then chop into 1/2 inch pieces. (more…)

I don’t think there’s any doubt about how much I love crepes and pancakes. But I usually eat them sweet and on their own.
Last Saturday, I looked into the fridge and didn’t see any very interesting stuff, I decided to jazz up our lunch. The lucky vegetable of the day turned out to be the lone cauliflower. Here how it went. For a change I thought to take step by step photographs. Enjoy!
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Savoury Cauliflower Crepes Serves 4
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For the crepes this recipes is perfect but leave out the sugar.

For the mixture
1 Caulifower – broken into small florets to fill 2 cups.
1 small onion, chopped fine
3 cloves garlic
1 small tomato, chopped small
1/2 tsp chilli powder

For the sauce
1 cup milk
1 tsp butter
2 table spoons all purpose flour (maida)
1 cup grated cheese
1/2 tsp pepper
salt to taste

Also mix together in a cup
2 tablespoons ketchup
1 tablespoon soya sauce
1 teaspoon chilli sauce if you want to add some bite!

PREPARATION
Set the cauliflower to boil in adequate water and a teaspoon of salt.

In 2 teaspoons of oil start sauteing the chopped onions. As they brown, add the garlic after crushing.
Now add the tomato, salt and chilli power and half a cup of water. Let it cook well on low heat.

Meanwhile start making the crepes. Don’t forget to leave out the sugar. Keep them thin, no bigger than about 6 inches in diameter. Set them aside on paper the drain the grease. (more…)

When everyone’s talking Christmas goodies, it’s a little weird I guess to have a Tofu Sandwich right on the top of my favorite things list. Well, for one, I’m not a huge sweet-tooth, for another, everyone is giving you those recipes anyway, aren’t they? For a third, I just got my camera working again, have Tofu in the house and managed to have time around breakfast rush-hour, all on the same day!

This is a little embarrassing to admit, but till about 6 months ago, though I’d had Tofu in various forms at restaurants, I’d never thought to buy it myself. I used paneer instead. As everyone knows, that’s a favorite on any vegetarian Indian menu especially across northern India. Paneer Tikka, palak paneer, kadai paneer, paneer paratha, you name it! The thing is I don’t really like cooked paneer; I avoid it on the buffet every time. I love it raw. And I often started the day with a Paneer Sandwich, until I read that it was really huge on fat – I get the store bought kind. It put me off for a few months till I suddenly thought of trying Tofu. And that, contrary to what many think, turned out to be the perfect substitute, and had a fraction of the fat.

Coming back to my Tofu Sandwiches… At their most basic, they have thick slices of Tofu / Paneer between sliced brown bread, a small, stingy scrapping of mayo, salt to taste and black pepper. And then a pinch of sugar because I like the touch of sweetness. Today’s sandwich was a season special; slices of a sweet fig, topped off with the last of my black olives. (more…)