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…)

My brother and his family came for dinner and I’m pretty thrilled at how this dish turned out, mainly because I made it off the top of my head, just based on how I thought a dish like this should taste. It actually tasted great too, and looked a lot better than the picture below (Lousy phone camera)
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Chicken in Honey & Soya Sauce Serves 6
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INGREDIENTS
1 kg Chicken drumsticks
1 1/2 cup honey
1 cup Soy Sauce
1/2 cup Worcestershire Sauce
2 onions
1 tablespoon garlic paste
1 large carrot
1 small green capsicum
1/2 teaspoon red chilli powder
2 tablespoons sesame seeds
Salt to taste
Oil

PREPARATIONS
Mix together all the soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, the chili powder, garlic paste and 1 cup honey in a large bowl.
Make small cuts all over the chicken and marinate in the mixture. 20 minutes is the bare minimum but I actually remembered to do this ahead for a change, covered and kept it a whole 7 hours in the refrigerator. I think it made a difference.

Slice the onions fine and long and fry them to turn golden brown. Remove half and set aside. (more…)

I’m not a great fan of Eggplant, so there are very few ways I actually chose to have this vegetable. One is a Brinjal Soya Casserole, another is Moussaka, the Greek favourite. But this is my favourite because its so easy.

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FRIED EGGPLANT Serves 4
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INGREDIENTS
1 large long Eggplant (about 6 inches long )
2 teaspoons red chilli powder or as much as you can stand
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 teaspoon garlic paste
Salt to taste
Oil to fry

PREPARATION
Wash the eggplant and slice into thin rounds.

Add tablespoon of water to the spices and salt and using your hands rub it gently into each slice. (the eggplant will give out some liquid too) Leave to marinate as long as you can. 20 minutes is the minimum, but you can pop it into the refrigerator and leave for even 5-6 hours.

Just before eating shallow fry them carefully.
Eat them with something bland like Rice & Yogurt. A perfect combination, as I discovered.

I’ve even eaten them in a sandwich with tomato slices!