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May 23, 2007

Did you know that Garlic .....

I was browsing a gardening magazine recently and came across something very interesting. Did you know that when planted, a single clove of garlic gives birth to the entire bulb? The aricle was accompanied by step-by-step garlic planting instructions with pictures. I was mesmerised. The next time I went to our local nursery in Mount Colah "The Garden Bug" [cute name, isn't it?], I picked up some tuscan green' coloured self-watering pots and some organic potting mix. I am very excited about growing my own garlic. After the success of my fenugreek and coriander in the past couple of weeks, I am all set to experiment with garlic, sage, chilli and spinach. Wish me luck!

At the beginning of Autumn I was lucky enough to buy some beautiful purple garlic at the local markets. It is a gorgeous looking bulb with stripey mauve and violet streaks at the base. I roasted it whole with some chicken and veggies in the oven after dousing it in extra-virgin olive oil. It turned out to be one of the most delicious things I have tasted. The sharp flavour was balanced by a sweet after taste. Wonderful!

A few months ago, I noticed what looked like baby onions with thin, papery white skins in a basket at the markets. On reading the sign closely, I found that they were actually single-clove garlics. I didn't even know that such a thing existed. My curiosity was piqued and I picked up a whole bunch before I left. Much milder than the regular garlic, they were extremely juicy and delicious. How did I cook them? Well, I just used them in normal cooking like I would regular garlic cloves, which is such a shame. These pretty little babies deserved more than ordinary cooking. But we were in the middle of the move and I was pressed for time. I haven't found them since and I have looked!!

Here are some interesting and fun facts about garlic.

Did you know .....
-- that garlic has insecticidal properties and is often planted with plants like tomatoes, roses or eggplants that are bug magnets?
-- that if garlic is added to a dish when it starts cooking, it will lose its sharp flavour as opposed to be being added at the very end?
-- that garlic cloves are planted with their pointy tips pointed upwards?
-- that Egyptian slaves built the pyramids on a diet of garlic, bread and water?
-- that it is said to have originated in Siberia?
-- that it is a member of the lily family? [what!!!! how can something as pretty as lily and as pungent as garlic come from the same family?]
-- that the Egyptians worshipped garlic and placed clay models of garlic bulbs in the tomb of Tutankhamen. [The Egyptians sure did love garlic!]
-- that there are roughly 300 varieties of garlic grown all over the world.
-- that it can control acne.
-- that it is universally known as "the stinking rose".
-- that Chicago got it's name from the American Indian word for the wild garlic that grew around Lake Michigan - "chicagaoua".
-- that there is a thing like "garlic cheesecake" and it is served in the all-garlic restaurant of Stockholm.
-- that an all-garlic restaurant in San-Fransisco offers garlic icecream.
-- that China and India are the largest and second largest producers of garlic in the world.
-- that it is called "Ail" in French and "Aglio" in Italian.
-- that the city of Gilroy, California promotes itself as "Garlic Capital of the World", and hosts the three-day Gilroy Garlic Festival every summer.
-- that in some episodes of Popeye, prior to him eating spinach, sniffing garlic was his source of energy.

Posted by Gel at 9:30 PM | | Comments (0)   

May 21, 2007

Abstract Photos 2005 : Part 2

For those of you who don't know about my first job [this blog and site being my second], it is a site called Starswelove.com. It started out as a hobby site for Nicky and me, back when we were in college and had celebrity crushes. A simple celebrity photo site slowly blossomed into a full-fledged, dynamic celebrity portal and movie database over time and kept me busy. The site boasts of over 20,000 celebrity scans and wallpapers and is constantly changing and evolving. I have been busy working on that over the weekend, so no food blogging happening here.

Today I am posting part 2 of my Abstract 2005 Photo Series. These are some portrait shots of myraid things. Let me know what you think ...

Posted by Gel at 11:16 PM | | Comments (0)   

May 18, 2007

Abstract Photos : 2005 Series Part 1

I have a 4 year old Canon Powershot G5. It has 3.6x optical zoom and 5.0 Megapixels resolution. I think my love of photography started budding when I got this amazing camera. Going on 5 years now [I bought it in late 2003], I still don't feel the need to upgrade. I wish, oh yes, I do ... to own a Canon 10.1MP Digital SLR. But I can wait, because my G5 still gives excellent results and is a constant learning process for me. It produces beautiful enlargements, crisp and realistic. I actually blew up a picture of my son and poster printed it, framed it and voila! It was like walking into an art gallery, the day I put it up. It was larger than life and people were actually amazed that a camera with 5.0MP did that.

Earlier today I was browsing through archives of my 20,000-odd photo collection ... yep, that's how many pictures this amazing camera has shot; and I decided to share some of my favourites here on the blog. Check these out, they are from way back in 2005. I was still experimenting and had not even tried food photography.

Posted by Gel at 10:52 PM | | Comments (2)   

May 17, 2007

Authentic Hyderbadi Chicken Biryani with a Modern Dum

Baking is an exact science. Indian Cooking is not. One of the most forgiving styles of cooking [except mithais and pakwaans], Indian cooking is kind to the cook and takes on as many beautiful and delicious variations as there are cooks. The versatility of spices is truly exploited in Indian cooking and I say that in a good way. And what better case study to present on this topic than to talk about a true classic "Murgh Biryani". Or "Chicken Biryani", "Murgh Dum Biryani", "Hyderabadi Murg Biryani". As many names as there are variations, as many tastes as there are spices.

I have had the pleasure of tasting a myraid variety of "Biryanis". The chicken biryani quickly escalated to my list of "have to eat" foods. There was a restaurant called 'Namaskar' in a little suburb called Thane in Mumbai. They used to dish up the most gorgeous looking biryani ever. The rich, creamy, golden sauce enveloping succulent pieces of perfectly browned chicken, speckled with the contrasting tastes and textures of saffron infused rice, cashewnuts and raisins was a feast for the soul. The 'Briyani' [no, I haven't spelt that wrong] as it was called in Singapore had a very 'shiok' feel to it, the influence of Malaysian cooking evolving the Nasi Briyani's taste to a new level. The Biryani at "Khansama" in Singapore's Little India was bursting with North Indian Dhaba-style flavour.

I tried making different kinds at home, with different meats and different preparation methods .... the true Hyderabadi Biryani taste always elusive. Then I came upon this gorgeous little book of traditional Hyderabadi recipes, a curious and whimsy mix of English and local lingo with words like "adrak", "dekchi", "dalchini", "sabut" and "elaichi" simmering happily together with "garlic", "yoghurt", "lamb" and "saffron". This book had three versions of Chicken Biryani, the last one being the closest to the authentic one. I have been making this version every few months over the last few years with minor variations and last night I think I finally stopped searching.

Of course, the taste might not be what you were looking for after reading my elaborate build-up, but it is truly delicious. Give it a try! A tad time consuming, linger over it, taste it often, adjust spices and seasonings to your taste and you won't regret it. The use of ghee, cardamoms, cashewnuts and saffron is vital to the taste.

Gel's Special Chicken Biryani
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Ingredients
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1 large chicken, cleaned and cut into pieces
2 cups basmati rice, washed and drained
2 large red onions, halved and thinly sliced + 1 small red onion
1/2 cup yoghurt
1/2 cup almonds
1/2 cup cashewnuts
1/4 cup raisins
1 inch piece of ginger
8 garlic cloves
2 green chillies
1 inch piece of cinnamon
5-6 cloves
6-8 cardamom pods
3 bay leaves
1 tsp red chilli powder
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
2 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp chicken masala [optional]
1 cup milk
1 cup water
6-8 strands of saffron
3 tbsp ghee [clarified butter]
1/4 cup fresh cream
salt to taste
2 tsp sugar
freshly chopped coriander and mint leaves for garnish

Method
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Warm milk and add saffron strands. Add water, cover and set aside.

Combine 1 small red onion, garlic, ginger, almonds, cinnamon, cloves, cardamoms, green chillies, turmeric powder and red chilli powder in a mortar and grind with the pestle to form a coarse paste. Add salt to taste and yoghurt. Mix well and coat the chicken pieces with this marinade. Cover and set aside.

In a heavy bottomed deep pan, heat ghee on medium heat. When hot, add bay leaves, cashewnuts, raisins, sugar and sliced onions. Cook, stirring continuously for a few minutes till onions are golden and soft. Add the marinated chicken pieces and cook on high heat for 15 minutes, tossing and mixing, till the chicken pieces are golden and lightly browned. Add all the remaining spices. Adjust seasoning according to taste. Reduce heat to low, add cream and mix well. Remove from heat.

In an oven-proof deep dish [I like to use a huge Claypot or heavy bottomed saucepan with a lid], spoon in a layer of soaked rice. Top with a layer of the cooked chicken. Add another layer of rice, followed by a layer of the chicken, finishing off with a layer of rice. Gently pour the milk and saffron mixture over the rice. Cover with the lid and bake in a pre-heated oven for 40-50 minutes at 200 deg C. When done, remove the lid and test the rice. If fluffy and cooked, remove from the oven and stand with lid covered for approximately 30 minutes. Garnish with freshly chopped coriander and mint leaves.

Serve hot with yoghurt or fruit raita.

*Note* When I put the biryani in the oven to cook, I add a weight [usually the pestle of my stone 'mortar and pestle set'] on top of the closed lid. This seals the air in and creates a pressure which cooks the ingredients to perfection. A modern style "dum" if you may.

Posted by Gel at 4:10 PM | | Comments (1)   

May 16, 2007

The Sydney Good Food & Wine Show 2007

I got my ticket to the Sydney Good Food And Wine Show 2007 in the mail today.I have been wanting to go to the show for a while now and this year I grabbed at the chance when Nicky said that he would baby-sit our son. The The Good Food & Wine Show is a very exciting event for foodies of all ages. Usually in June every year, it travels to Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. It is hard to miss hearing and reading about it if you are a cooking magazine fanatic like me, because it is splashed across pages of all the monthly food and wine magazines here in Australia [as i am sure it would be in some other countries as well].

The Sydney show would be at the Exhibition Centre on 15th, 16th and 17th June. The show boasts of over 300 exhibitors exploring latest culinary trends, gadgets and new gourmet delicacies from around the world. It promises wine tasting, food tasting, showbags, cooking demonstrations by celebrity chefs [I have booked my seat for Donna Hay's Dinner Party Demonstration .. yayyy!], contests and fabulous prizes. Some other celebrity chefs at the show are Curtis Stone, Ainsley Harriot and Matt Moran. I am hoping to get some good pictures and interesting material for the blog. Foodies of Sydney unite!! Come 15th June, The Good Food & Wine Show is the place to be!

Posted by Gel at 1:25 PM | | Comments (0)   

May 15, 2007

Herb Patch Update

Remember when I talked about my new herb patch. Well, it has been 5 weeks since I scattered seeds in the soil bed in our backyard and my herb patch is officially thriving. The fenugreek seeds really took off and were the first ones to sprout. The resulting "methi" is now a lush, green cluster of approximately 12 cm tall dainty stalks with 2 levels of flat, round leaves. I am thinking of harvesting it this weekend and making "methi muthiyas" [Steamed fenugreek dumplings - A traditional Gujarati specialty]. If the quantity turns out to be good, I might even take it a step further and indulge in some good old-fashioned "oondhiyu"; after all it is almost winter and what better season to have it then now.

The rocket is extremely slow growing, maybe it has got to do something with the weather. The parsley and basil never sprouted and neither did the mint. But the coriander is happy and thriving. The "ajwain" was planted only last week and that has sprouted as well. I do have some wild parsley growing in the general area behind the pool, the soil made fertile by the hundreds of dates that fall and create a composty patch. I have got some new pots and am preparing to plant some birds-eye chilli seeds. The chilli plant I got from a local market has stubby little green and orange chillies, but they don't pack a punch. The tiny green ones I get from the greengrocers are really fiery and I hope the fresh seeds from those take root in these pots.

Right now though I am trying to figure out a way to get rid of snails who leave a silvery trail and some mystery bug that keeps trying to eat my herb leaves, leaving tiny holes in them. Any ideas?

Posted by Gel at 6:04 PM | | Comments (2)   

May 13, 2007

Timesavers : A Cheeky Mango

I have been thinking about adding a new category called "Timesavers" to the blog of late. I come across a gazillion ideas everyday, all of which my mind would be capable of holding in and conjuring up when needed, would save me an immense amount of time. These are little things that you can do, whip up, store and keep, plan and organise .... effortless little things that make simple things special. Last night, I used up the last of the frozen mango cheeks from the refrigerator and was about to toss the box in the recycling bin [yep, I DO recycle :)], when I read this set of 'quick serving suggestions' for mango cheeks. Over the years I have come to appreciate the wisdom behind these little snippets on cereal and frozen/processed food boxes. Believe it or not, these are really helpful and make you wonder why you never thought about it in the first place.

QUICK SERVING SUGGESTIONS FOR MANGO CHEEKS
[for those of you who are still wondering what mango cheeks are ... they are the fleshiest,juiciest and biggest cut of the mango]

+ Swirl pureed Mango Cheeks through sour cream, season and serve as a dip for cooked prawns.

+ Toss chopped mango cheeks through fruit salads.

+ Lightly pan-fry or barbecue mango cheeks and serve with a fruit sorbet.

+ Blend thawed mango cheeks into a smoothie.

+ Add chopped mango cheeks to a spicy salsa.

+ Gently poach mango cheeks in dessert wine and serve with ginger ice-cream.

My variation for these babies was to dice them and add them to Stir-fried Chicken Fried Rice.

Check out this nice website of the brand I swear by, Creative Gourmet. They have a good collection of recipes for their frozen range of fruits and lots of nutrition tips as well.

Posted by Gel at 1:43 PM | | Comments (0)   

May 1, 2007

Ginger & I

I have a deep-rooted bond with ginger, no pun intended! Like my PC, it is something I cannot do without for even a single day. So come winter when the ginger prices in Sydney shoot through the supermarket roofs and it becomes more and more scarce, I get very grumpy. I need it in my daily cuppa of 'Adrak Chai'. I need it for making my curries and flavouring my stir-fries every other day. I use it quite liberally too. On days when I return empty-handed from Coles or Woolies because I couldn't find an old, saggy ginger root, leave alone a younger, succulent one; I have to resort to using ground ginger. Ground ginger is not bad, but it doesn't have the zing that fresh ginger does.

I always knew that ginger originated in India, but I was amazed to know that it was almost 2000 years ago. "Adrak" or "Adu" as it is called in the local dialect there is indispensable in most households [just like mine], although young ginger can be quite elusive even in the country of its birth. I remember first experiencing the goodness of young ginger when I was in Singapore. It was love at first bite. The young ginger is actually the first harvest which produces immature ginger with pale, thin skin that doesn't need to be peeled. It is sweet and has less of a kick. The flesh is crisp and tender and is excellent for soups and stir-fries.

I want to actually try growing ginger at home. Any idea how I could go about it in the best possible way? Have any of you tried and succeeded? Drop me a line if you have, I would love to know more.

Here is a simple ginger marinade recipe that packs a punch.

GINGER MARINADE
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Combine 2 tablespoons fresh, chopped ginger with 1 clove of finely chopped garlic, 1/4 cup soy sauce and 1/4 cup dry sherry. Pour over meat of your choice and stand for an hour before cooking.

Posted by Gel at 1:42 PM | | Comments (2)