A space for recipes

This is a little bit of a hangover from The Wartime Kitchen - Ration Book Cooking, which is why the piece of meat is so small and there are so many vegetables surrounding it!  However, it gave me a chance to try out the Mermaid Deep Side Handled Roaster.   Made from hard anodised aluminium, Mermaid claim their collection of bakeware will never peel or blister, withstanding the highest cooking temperatures – perfect if you need high temperatures to seal off your meat. Mermaid’s roaster is ideal for hob to oven cooking, guaranteed not to warp or buckle, plus, it’s extremely easy to clean and scratch resistant making it safe to use with metal utensils such as a whisk. So lets see if that is true!

Pot Roast Shoulder of Lamb with Root Vegetables and Red Wine Gravy

Piece of Lamb shoulder (I wont insult you by telling you how little I used!)
2 shallots, peeled and quartered
4 parsnips, peeled and cut into large chunks or fingers
6 carrots, peeled and cut into large chunks or fingers
4 tbsp sunflower oil


1. Heat 1 tbsp oil in the roaster on the hob, sear the lamb on all sides.  Remove the meat and add the remaining oil.
2. Add the vegetables, season and place the lamb on top of the vegetables.
3. Cover with foil and cook at 160C for 1 1/2 hours.
4. Remove foil and turn up the oven to 200C, cook for 15 minutes until the vegetables start to colour.
5. Remove the meat and vegetables to a warmed serving plate and rest covered with foil.




Make the Gravy
Spoon off the excess fat. Next deglaze your dish on the hob with a medium heat to release the delicious flavours within the darker juices. After adding flour, wine, balsamic vinegar and stock and you have a delicious gravy.


Not feeling confident about making your own gravy?  Mermaid have a step by step video which will hold your hand until you have mastered the art of making Old Fashioned Gravy.


I followed the instructions on the video to make my gravy and they were very easy to follow.  I used a metal whisk in the pan as instructed, although that was the hardest part of the whole process for me, it just seems wrong to use metal utensils on non-stick!  However, I have to say that the non-stick is incredibly tough and didnt have a mark on it after cleaning.


It didnt warp or buckle, it didnt blister or peel, quite impressive given the bashing I gave it with the whisk.  I also liked the handles, which made it really easy to lift the roasting tin out of the oven  and to work with it on the hob.


Ive used the Mermaid Deep Side Handled Roaster since to make roast potatoes, sorry no photos, and it worked well for that too.  I am also eyeing it up for a giant lasagne which would feed visitors over the Christmas holidays, its the perfect size and, with those lovely shiny stainless steel handles, I would even take it to the table.


Thanks to Sarah and Ria for providing me with the Mermaid Deep Side Handled Roaster for review, I was not required to provide a positive review and I was not paid for this post.  All opinions are my own.

Beach Sundal Gravy

My hubby is fond of this street food snack made with dried yellow peas ( note do not use dried green peas for this recipe that doesnt give authentic taste) simmered in tomato sauce. While served masala vada or onion samosa are crushed on a plate then topped with this peas gravy and chopped raw onions. Though this pattani masala sundal is very tasty Im scared of such street food as they are prepared in unhealthy way. So I started making this at home to satisfy his taste buds. Make sure you make some masala vada, onion samosa or even bajji to go with this pattani sundal.

Ingredients
Dried yellow peas - 3/4 cup
Onion minced - 1 no
Tomato minced - 2 no
Red chilli powder - 1 tsp
Coriander powder - 1 tsp
Cumin powder - 1 tsp
Pepper powder - 1/4 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Fennel powder / Aniseed powder - 1 tsp
Salt to taste
Oil - 2 tbsp
Water required

Other things required
Chopped raw onions to garnish
Onion samosa or masala vada to serve with sundal gravy.
Kara Boondhi - 1 cup

Street Food Sundal Gravy

Method
1. Soak the dried yellow peas overnight in water. The next day drain the yellow peas and boil it in water along with few pinch of cooking soda until the peas are tender. Drain the cooked peas and set aside.
2. Heat oil in a pan, add minced onion and sauté for a minute.
3. Now add the minced tomatoes to the onion in the pan and sauté until tomatoes are soft.
4. Next add all the spice powder along with salt to the pan and sauté for a minute.
5. Add generous amount of water to the pan and bring to boil. Adjust the seasoning if required.
6. Add the cooked peas to the gravy and simmer for 2 mins.
While serving crush onion samosa or masala vada on a plate pour pattani sundal along with watery gravy over it and garnish chopped raw onion, kara boondhi and serve.
To give more authentic feel to your hubby or loved one charge them Rs 10 per plate ;-)

Kaiyendhi Bhavan Masala Sundal

Chefs tips
1. There is no proper recipe for this street food, the base ingredients are dried yellow peas, tomatoes and onions. You can throw whatever spice powder available in your kitchen in this recipe.
2. The most important thing is this sundal gravy has to be watery with little less salt for very authentic taste;-)

There are some vegetables that never make it to our favourites list. Most gourds, especially the bitter gourd for obvious reasons, and also the bottle gourd for being so tasteless. DH is absolutely a non-fussy eater but gourds deter him too. When I tried out an experiment with the bottle gourd for my lunch, inspired by what our friend in Bangalore had made for us, it turned out so good, that it was entirely report-worthy and repeat-worthy. I made an effort to spare some for dinner, and when I gingerly served some to DH, he said - "Is there more of that??". That moment, the poor dudhi had recorded its place in the annals of our household.

I must give due credit to an Andhra recipe which our friend had shared with me verbally. Since I couldnt recollect much of it, what went into this recipe, were ingredients thrown in by intuition, in my own approximations. The idea of dudhi in a thick gravy is her traditional recipe though.

Before I share this zero-oil, tasteful wonder with you, I must announce that a good friend Manasvi has started his own food blog called - From the Bachelors Kitchen. As good ladies we must encourage a mans efforts in the kitchen, shouldnt we ;)


DUDHI / LAUKI KI SABZI
Bottle gourd in gravy - a zero oil recipe

Category: Vegetable, low-carb, zero-oil, diabetic recipe
Time taken: Under 15 minutes
Serves: 2
Source: Adapted from a friends recipe

Ingredients
1 small dudhi -peeled cut into cubes (to make 2 cups of cubes)
pinch of turmeric powder and asafoetida each, 1 tsp salt
1/2 cup water

For masala
2 red chillies - broken into small pieces
1 heaped tablespoon sesame seeds (white ellu)
1 tbsp tur dal
1 tsp coriander seeds
1 tsp saunf or fennel seeds (substitute with jeera if you dont have this, but good to use fennel)
2 peeled garlic pods (optional)
PLUS
1/4 Cup roasted peanuts

Coriander leaves for garnish

To prepare masala
Dry roast the ingredients - red chillies through garlic.
Once the tur dal turns golden, remove, cool and dry grind in small mixer with handful of roasted peanuts. If you dont have roasted peanuts, then first roast peanuts separately as it takes longer than other ingredients. Grind to a coarse powder, keep aside.

Directions
Heat 3/4 cup water in a heavy pan. Bring to a boil with turmeric, salt and hing. Add the dudhi cubes and boil for 5-7 minutes until the pieces are soft but retain shape. They may be some water left over, but do not drain it.
OR
Microwave for 3 min on high

Add masala powder to the cooked gourd pieces in the same pan. On a low flame, mix the cooked gourd with the masala. The excess water will be absorbed by the powder. Add a little more water if necessary.

Check for salt and garnish with coriander. This dish with pair fantastically with chapatis or even dosai, may be even bread.


Note
You wont miss the oil at all here, for the natural oils in sesame seeds and peanuts give it a rich taste
You can try this with any other squash or gourd, for eg. Zucchini
Bottle gourd is low-carb as are many others from this family, this makes an excellent diabetic recipe as well as a low-carbers recipe.
You can use the saved bottle gourd peels to make a chutney by sauteeing it with spices and dried lentils, and pulsing it in the blender.

Tags: Indian, vegetable, vegetarian, lowcarb vegetarian, zero-oil, bottlegourd, dudhi, lauki, squash, Indian curry, Saffron Trail, Recipe, Food, Indian food blog, Healthy eating, Healthy living, Mumbai, India