Mushroom and Spinach Omelette

The following recipe serves one person.

Ingredients:

1. Eggs: 2 large sized or 3 medium sized
2. Mushrooms: Any type you like, 1 cup, sliced
3. Spinach: 1 cup, chopped
4. Onion: 1 small, fine chopped
5. Milk: 3 tbsp
6. Black pepper: 1/4 tsp (levelled)
7. Salt (to taste)
8. Red chilli flakes (just a pinch)
9. Olive oil: 2 tbsp

Note: I have used mushrooms and spinach in this recipe. You may use other vegetables like bell pepper (green, red, yellow), thinly slices potatoes, green onion, green chilli pepper, tomatoes, carrots, cabbage etc.

Instructions:

Whisk the eggs and the milk in a bowl until light and fluffy. Add a pinch of black pepper, red chilli flakes and salt and whisk a little more.

Heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan (preferably non-stick). Sauté onion until it just changes color.

Add the mushrooms and spinach to the pan.

Sauté until the mushrooms are tender and the spinach is wilted. If using other vegetables, sauté them in a similar way. Add some salt and black pepper. Keep in mind that the egg mixture also has salt and pepper. Take the mixture out on a plate and set aside. 

  

Now, in the same pan, heat up 1 tbsp oil (medium heat). Add the egg mixture to the pan and tilt it in all directions to let the mixture cover the whole base. Lower the heat and allow the egg to set. Cover the pan with a lid (if you dont have a lid, use a plate).

Once the egg mixture is set and the color has changed to golden brown, carefully change its side with the help of a large, flat spoon. Make it golden brown.

Put the mushroom+spinach mixture on half the egg base.

Turn over the remaining half of the egg base as shown in the figure. Take it out on a plate.

Serve with some nicely toasted bread. 

Alternatively ----- > The above method of making the omelette is a slightly fancy way of doing it. Since some of my friends may not like to put so much effort into it, i'd suggest an easier way.

After sautéing the vegetables, simply add the egg mixture in the same pan. Allow it to set a little and then change the side. Or make the eggs like scrambled ones. 

Happy eating :)

P.S. The pictures didn't come out so good as there was no proper light. But the taste was great, I promise. ;) 

Spinach & Ricotta Tortellini with Cherry Tomato Sauce

Have you ever made pasta at  home? Try it. Its not so difficult as it sounds and the taste of fresh homemade pasta is awesome. Follow the recipe below. You can change the filling or the sauce to your liking.

Ingredients

For the Tortellini pasta:

a) Pasta

1. Plain flour : 300 gm
2. Salt: 1 tsp
3. Eggs: 3
4. Olive oil: 1 tbsp

b) Filling

1. Spinach: 1 cup, chopped and boiled
2. Ricotta cheese: 1/2 cup
3. Green onion: 1/2 cup, chopped (both white and green part)
4. Garlic: 1/2 tsp, crushed
5. Black pepper: 1/2 tsp or to taste
6. Cayenne pepper: 1/4 tsp
7. Dried basil: 1/4 tsp
8. Thyme: 1/4 tsp
9. Oregano: 1/4 tsp
10. Salt: To taste

For the Cherry Tomato Sauce:

1. Cherry tomatoes: 7-8, halved
2. Green onion: 1/2 cup, chopped, white part only
3. Tomato paste: 1/2 cup
4. Garlic: 1 tbsp
5. Dried basil: 1 tsp 
6. Red chilli flakes: 1/4 tsp or to taste
7. Salt: to taste 
8. Olive oil
9. Parmesan cheese: 1 tbsp, for garnish

Instructions:

Tortellini pasta dough

1. Combine and sift the dry ingredients (flour and salt) together in a bowl. Beat the eggs and olive oil separately and add to the flour mixture. 
2. If you have a food processor, put this mixture into the dough attachment and process until the mixture forms a ball. Else mix everything by hand. 
3. Once the dough looks worked through, remove it from the processor and knead briefly on a lightly floured surface until smooth and compact. Cover the dough with cling film and rest at room temperature. 

Filling: 

    1. Heat a little olive oil in a pan and sauté onion and garlic until golden.

    2. Add the boiled spinach with all the herbs and spices and sauté  for 5 minutes. Take the mixture           away from heat and cool. Put aside 1 tbsp of this mixture for garnish and use the remaining for           pasta filling.

    3. Once the mixture has cooled down, add ricotta cheese into it and mix well. 

    4. The mixture is now ready to be filled in the tortellini.

How to shape the tortellini and fill in with the spinach+ricotta mixture:

Pictures from web

1. Take a small ball of the dough and roll it into a 2 inch diameter disk, 1/16 inch thick. Alternatively, take a ball of dough and roll it into a flat sheet, 1/16 inch thick. Now using a round cookie cutter or glass, cut out a 2 inch diameter round disk.
2. See the figure above. Put a small amount of filling in the center of the disk and brush the edges with flour slurry (mix a little flour in water to make a sticky paste) or a lightly beaten egg.  Fold the disk in half to make a semi circle. Press the edges with your fingers to seal them together.  Lastly, pick up the semi-circular disk and hold the two ends of the flat edge, carefully turning them straight upwards toward each other until they meet.  Press the two ends together to make the tortellini.
3. To cook, bring a large pot of salted boiling water to a boil and drop in the tortellini.  When the tortellini float to the surface, they are done.

Cherry Tomato Sauce:

1. Heat up a little olive oil in a pan. Add onion and garlic and sauté  until golden. 
2. Add the tomato paste with a pinch of salt, chilli flakes and dried basil. Cook for about 5 minutes. Add a little water, if necessary.
3. Now add the cherry tomatoes and toss the mixture around until everything is mixed well. Let the sauce simmer for 2 minutes. 
4. Add the boiled tortellini to the mixture and mix until it is well coated by the sauce. 

Serve the pasta by garnishing it with the left-over spinach+ricotta mixture and parmesan cheese as shown in the picture in this post.

Happy eating! :)

Thai Red Fish Curry with Jasmine Rice

Ingredients

Thai Red Fish Curry:

1. Any firm white fish, cut into cubes: 500 gms (I used Cod)
2. Thai red curry paste: 2-3 tbsp, store bought or you can make it at home using this recipe.
   (Note: Use 2 tbsp of paste for a mild taste or 3 tbsp for a spicier version. You can also add some red chilli flakes if you want to make it extra hot)
3. Coconut milk: 1 can (400 gm)
4. Fish sauce: 1 tbsp
5. Red chilli pepper: 1, sliced
6. Brown sugar: 1 tsp
7. Salt: to taste
8. Fresh basil (if available, else use 1 tsp dried basil): 7-8 leaves
9. Fresh coriander: 2 tbsp 
10. Olive oil

Thai Jasmice Rice:

1. Thai jasmine rice: 2 cups, steamed (you may use Basmati rice as well)
2. Garlic: 1 tbsp
3. Dried basil: 1 tsp 
4. Salt: to taste 
5. Olive oil

Instructions:

Thai Red Fish Curry

1. Heat olive oil in a wok and add thai red curry paste. Saute for a minute with a little water (2 tbsp) to make the paste a bit thinner. For a more spicier version, you can add red chilli flakes. Add the coconut milk and mix with the paste until the mixture is homogeneous. Cook for 5 minutes until oil separates and floats to the top.  
2. Add the fish and stir in "gently" with the coconut milk+curry paste mixture until well coated. Bring the mixture to boil and then lower the heat. Simmer until the fish is cooked through. This will take around 5-7 minutes. 
3. Add the brown sugar and fish sauce. Let the curry cook for another minute and then stir in the basil leaves and sliced red chilli.
4. Garnish with coriander.

Thai Jasmine Rice:

1. Heat up a little olive oil in a pan or a wok. Add garlic and saute until golden. 
2. Add the boiled rice with a pinch of salt and dried basil. Do not add any salt if you already added it while boiling the rice.
3. Toss the rice around until everything is mixed well. 
4. Cook, covered on very low heat for ten minutes. Ready to serve.

Serve the curry poured over rice in a bowl or as shown in the picture in this post.

Happy eating! :)

Lets kill the extra pounds

First of all, I apologize for being away from this blog. Not that I have a large readership (sniff, sniff) but those of you who read my blog (thank you, thank you), I apologize for being away. Actually I have been on a strict diet and writing food posts or cooking or reposting old food pictures was making me very hungry. Therefore, I decided to take a break until I was able to handle my food cravings. Its not that I was over-weight or anything, but I was past my comfort zone and I dont like it when I am not happy with my body image. It was time to take some measures and lose a few pounds and basically go back to how I was a year ago. 

I have lost some weight, 4 kgs. Nah.... Just kidding, its actually 3.25 kgs but i like rounding it off to the upper limit (which is mathematically incorrect) to make myself feel better and motivate me to stick to this diet. In terms of inches, I have lost around the waist and overall too so basically this diet is working for me. I thought I should share it. You can tweak it to your liking but do follow it in general terms and try to get the hang of it. I promise that only the first few days will be difficult and then the sight of oily, fried, fatty, sweet stuff will make you cringe. Or at least, you wont stuff yourself with such food and will be able to stop yourself and control your over-eating habits. 

I have done three awesome things to myself these last two months. 

A. Light exercise: I have a treadmill at home and I must admit I had barely used it before I started this diet. I have been using it now at normal walking speed for half an hour everyday or every other day. My job requires me to stand for around 6 hours per day so I dont have a sit-in work routine (that counts as exercise too in my dictionary). Plus, instead of whatsapping my parents to talk to them (my room is on the first floor of the house and my parents' on the ground floor, please dont judge me, im lazy), I have been taking the stairs to go downstairs and talk to them in person. That means going up and down atleast 20 times in a day. And, well, thats about it.

Picture: Taken from web.

B. I have been using my fitness pal. Please make an account on it and log in your daily food intake and exercise routine. It will automatically calculate the calories you have taken and tell you when you are over-eating. You can set your target weight loss goal on it. There is an app too. Just check it out yourself. Its pretty easy to use.

C. Diet: As far as food is concerned, your goal should be taking less calories than your daily requirement or if you take equal calories, then burn them off through exercise. 

Here is my diet routine. 

1. Early morning when I wake up: A glass of warm to hot water with 1 tsp lemon juice, 1/2 tsp honey, 1 cm long ginger root and 1/4 tsp cinnamon. Add all these when the water is still hot and let it sit for a little while while it becomes drinkable warm. Drink it on an empty stomach.

2. Breakfast: 4 tbsp bran flakes and skimmed milk. Tea with skimmed milk.

Picture: Taken from web.

Eat fruit like apples, oranges, berries if you feel hungry. No bananas. And dont over do it.

                                                                                     Picture: Taken from web.

3. Lunch: 1/2 chicken breast or 1/2 fish fillet or 1 medium size chicken leg piece (steamed or grilled, no oil, marinate with lemon juice, ginger garlic, salt and pepper), with fresh salad. Squeeze a lemon on the salad. You can also have 1/2 cup low fat yogurt. 

Picture: Taken from web.

Again, if you feel hungry later on, have some fruit. No bananas. Have tea or coffee if you want to. Better to have green tea. 

4. Dinner: Sauteed/roasted vegetables or vegetable soup (1-1.5 cup). Use very less olive oil. Be mild on the spices. I have been having vegetables like spinach, cabbage, capsicum, carrots, broccoli, zucchini, tomatoes, green onion etc. Try to have dinner by 7-8 pm. If you eat late, your body cant digest it properly. Also, dont add egg, potatoes, peas, corn, beans etc in the soup (or sauteed vegetables). Avoid all the starchy vegetables. 

Picture: Taken from web.

Have green tea half an hour before you go to bed at night.

MOST IMPORTANT: NO PASTA, RICE, WHEAT FLOUR (for flat bread/chapati) and PLAIN FLOUR is allowed in this diet. When you go to your normal routine after losing the weight you want, try to replace chapati or rice with as much salad as you can. By salad, i mean fresh salad with  no oils or mayonnaise. 

You can have a cheat day after every ten days. Cheat day means eating your regular food but dont over do it. Please. Avoid desserts.

Log in your daily diet+exercise on my fitness pal. I am sorry for not putting up my own food pictures but I promise to do so soon enough. Drink atleast 8 glasses of water daily. If you feel hungry, eat fruits (avoid bananas please).

Happy dieting. It is working for me and I hope it does for you too. Remember, the trick is to be consistent. You wont lose weight fast. Its a long process but good thing about this diet is that you lose weight in a healthy way.  :) 

Guide to healthy eating: The Food Pyramid and The Food Plate

A food pyramid or diet pyramid is a pyramid-shaped diagram representing the optimal number of servings to be eaten each day from each of the basic food groups.The first food pyramid was published in Sweden in 1974.The food pyramid introduced by the United States Department of Agriculture in the year 1992 was called the "Food Guide Pyramid". It was updated in 2005 and then replaced by "My Plate" in 2011.Over 25 other countries and organisations have also published food pyramids [Ref]

More information can be found here.

The Food Pyramid

The Food Plate

Chicken Tikka Masala with Jeweled Saffron Rice

1. Chicken Tikka Masala

Ingredients

Chicken tikka: 1 kg prepared chicken tikka (recipe here on the blog)
Onion: 3 large (very finely chopped) 

Tomato puree: 1 can or 400 gms 

Ginger/garlic paste: 1 tablespoon 

Red Chilli: To taste

Salt: To taste

Cumin: 1 teaspoon

Turmeric powder: 1/4 teaspoon 

Double/Sour cream: 1 cup 

Garam masala: 1 tsp

Dried fenugreek (qasuri methi): 1 tbsp

Butter 3-4 tbsp

For garnish: Green chillies, coriander.

Instructions

1. Take a pan and add butter and a little oil in it (oil is added to make sure butter does not burn). 

2. Saute chopped onion until it is light golden brown in color. 

3. Add zeera and saute for a minute or so.

4. Now add ginger and garlic paste and spices like red chilli, salt and turmeric. Stir for 2, 3 minutes. 

5. Add tomato puree to the onion mixture. Cook it like a traditional "masala". 

6. Once the tomato and onion mixture is cooked well, add the chicken tikka into it. Stir for 2,3 minutes and add cream and dried fenugreek into it. Add garam masala also. Let it cook, covered for 5-6 minutes on low heat. Remove from the heat now.

7. Give smoky flavor to your dish by this technique*.

Garnish with green chillies and coriander. Trickle a little cream over the surface. Serve with tandoori naan.

*Instead of using a glass to put the coal in, i used cabbage leaves. You can use a slice of bread as well. 

2. Jeweled Saffron Rice

Ingredients

Basmati rice: 2 cups (Boil until 95% cooked with 1 tbsp salt, 1/2 tsp cumin, 1 black cardamom, few cloves, 1 bay leaf)

Peas: 1/2 cup, boiled

Carrots: 1/2 cup, peeled and cut into pea-sized cubes

Capsicum or green bell pepper: 1/2 cup, cut into pea-sized cubes

Dried barberries or Dried cranberries or Fresh pomegranate seeds: 1/2 cup

Saffron threads: 1/4 tsp, put in 1/4 cup warm milk and keep tightly covered.

Butter: 2 tbsp

Oil: 2 tbsp

Onion: 1 medium, thinly sliced

Green onion: 1/2 cup, cut pea-sized, keep white and green parts separate.

Cumin: 1 tsp

Garlic: 2 tbsp, chopped

Black pepper: 1/2 tsp or to taste

Instructions

1. Saute barberries/cranberries with a little butter+sugar for a few minutes and keep aside. Their color should not change. Be careful because they burn really fast. If using, fresh pomegranate seeds, skip this step and go to step 2 directly.

2. Heat up oil+butter in a pan. Add onion to it and fry until golden brown. 

3. Add cumin and garlic and saute for 2 minutes until cumin releases its aroma and garlic turns light golden.

4. Add white part of the green onion, carrots and capsicum and saute for a 3-4 minutes. 

5. Add peas and green part of the green onion and saute for a minute.

6. Put boiled rice in the pan over the vegetables. Sprinkle with salt and black pepper. Toss gently until the rice is thoroughly mixed with the vegetables. Reason of keeping rice a little stiff while boiling is to make sure that it does not break once you toss it with the vegetables.

7. Drizzle saffron+milk mixture over the rice in circular motion or in different spots over the surface. That way some rice will remain white and some will be yellow afterwards. 

8. Cover with a lid and lower the flame to a bare minimum. Let the rice cook for 10-15 minutes until tender. 

9. Serve the rice with the barberries/cranberries or fresh pomegranate seeds on top. 

Happy eating. :) 

How to make Chicken Tikka

Picture taken from web

Ingredients:

1 kg chicken (some boneless, some on bones, cut into tikka sized pieces).

Marinade:
salt (to taste),
red chilli (to taste),
1 tsp chaat masala,
1-2 tbsp garam masala,
3-4 tbsp yugurt,
2-3 tbsp lemon juice,
1/4 tsp turmeric powder,
2-3 tbsp ginger/garlic paste,
Red food color
1/2 cup ghee/oil.

You can also use a ready made spice mix (Tandoori Masala or Tikka Masala) instead of preparing it yourself. I recommend using fresh ingredients as the flavor is better if you use home made masala/spice mix.

Instructions:

Marinate the chicken with above ingredients for atleast 2-3 hours. Overnight (6-8 hrs) marination (keep it in fridge) is preferred. BBQ or grill in the oven (line an oven proof dish with aluminium foil first) at 190 deg C for 45 minutes or until the tikka is cooked.

You can also make tikka on stove. Put the marinated chicken in a non-stick pan. Cover it and let it cook on low heat until almost tender. Raise the flame and cook the chicken to give it a nice red-charred kind of color.

If you are making the tikka in oven or in a pan, you can give a smoky flavor by this coal technique*.

You can also put a few pinches of the tea Lapsang souchong in the marinade. It will automatically give a smoky flavor once your tikka is done.

*Instead of using a glass to put the coal in, you can use cabbage leaves or a slice of bread.

Happy eating :)