A Teaspoon and A Toothbrush
Ok, I know the title sounds really amateurish but this actually highlights the dish I have in store for you guys.
The other day, after a long walk and a movie without grabbing a bite at the theatre other than water and popcorn and being quite adamant about not snacking in between, we walked over to the nearest restaurant within our radius. Our evening walks have become more of sight seeing walks these days cause so many things seemed to have got a face lift since my/our last visit.
Some serious revamping of the roads as well- they look pristine, beautifully tarred and at the moment flawless but you and I as Chennaites know the dilemma we face once the rains or other natural calamities set in...old stories in new bottles. Nevertheless, these short breaks shuttling between the two capitals gives us a wider perspective on the joy of living, enjoying life to its fullest absorbing in all the sights, sounds and aromas!
Coming back to the restaurant and the dish that lured me into recreating what I did was this :- Hakka Paneer (Cottage Cheese) Outta this world-soft paneer in a concoction of herbs. I do not know their recipe but I came up with my own from the taste and aroma.
Was it worth Rs. 200? Oh yeah, man this was like chewing a plate of milky gold. The spicy sauce complemented the dish and a perfect starter to our dinner. It was worth starving at the theatre!!! What I came up with as an imitation to this was my baby corns with mushrooms as I am just crazy over these two.
The texture of course is different but you do get the drift right? I went crazy with my knife skills or lack of that with loads of spring onions, four to five green chillies, garlic and ginger. Chop...Chop...Chop all the way. These are the main characters that played truant in my mouth and forced me to recreate something similar. My baby corns and mushrooms were chopped lengthwise to a desired size and left them to marinate in a simple marinade which had to do with A TEASPOON of whatever sauces you like.
My marinade had a tsp. of lemon juice, soy sauce (which gives the black colour) chilly vinegar, tomato ketchup, red chilly paste (I just chopped and blended in a tsp. of two to three dry red chillies that were soaked in warm water for a while as I was out of the paste) and honey. If you have other sauces Hoisin or Plum Sauce add those too, anything that would resemble and taste what you are seeing. Keep tasting, it's all in the taste. Add adequate salt keeping in mind that your sauces have salt in them as preservatives. Let those two veggies sink in this marinade for a while.
In a wok on a high flame, this entire dish will be done before you can even blink your eyes ten times. Add a tsp. of oil, any oil that you prefer, toast a tsp. of sesame seeds in that and throw in all that ginger- garlic- spring onions-green chillies and toss them about. The aroma in you kitchen...throw it open to the neighbours to smell them...This is actually the perfect aromatics to a non-veg cooking, Sigh! Mine are all vegetarians! And my dish is vegetarian too! Not complaining, vegetarian dishes are really good if prepared well!
Let the veggies merge well in the herbs, taste, add salt if required and sprinkle pepper if you desire for more spice. The dish is done! Thus our imitation of a beautiful two hundred bucks (INR) dish smiles back at you. There's so much passion that went into recreating this dish both in flavour and appearance. I feel I have done justice! The tummy is happy and you should be too! you can chop the garlic with the skin on as well!
Chicken lovers can do this with boneless chicken I suppose. Vegetarians can give it a go with soya chunks as well or keep it to its original with the cottage cheese. What did we have this with...Aha! so now there comes the Toothbrush story...We had it with garlic rice ....Obviously as silly as it sounds and almost like warding off a vampire with all that garlic and bad breath-FAINTS! A good brush and a massage of the gums should help to keep the garlicky stench off. That's if you are with outsiders...but if you are with family, oh just throw that Toothbrush away...Garlic Rice is Garlic Rice as you chose it to be garlicky huh? So why the drama with the toothbrush!
Six pods of garlic were peeled and tossed in bit of butter and olive oil together. Do not let it burn but do let it brown a bit and take it off from the heat with the help of a slotted spoon into a kitchen napkin. Into the same wok with that bit of grease in it, throw in a bit of shredded ginger, spring onions, salt and pepper and toss it about. Add a tbsp. of vegetable stock to keep it moist after which you will add in the cooked Basmati Rice/left over rice or cooked white rice into this mix and stir well. Into this rice add in those browned garlic. you can keep them with skin on as well if your like that extra crunch and appearance. Toss the garlic well along with the rice and ensure that it remains moist and served hot. You may keep in under a lid for a while
Remember it is Garlic Rice so don't shy away by reducing the quantity of the garlic. In a serving you should find them punctuating the rice.
Found some Yellow watermelon while grocery shopping hence diced them and served them as the fruit or dessert to go with the lunch. It has an almost honey like taste. Enjoy the colours on your plate.
The other day, after a long walk and a movie without grabbing a bite at the theatre other than water and popcorn and being quite adamant about not snacking in between, we walked over to the nearest restaurant within our radius. Our evening walks have become more of sight seeing walks these days cause so many things seemed to have got a face lift since my/our last visit.
Some serious revamping of the roads as well- they look pristine, beautifully tarred and at the moment flawless but you and I as Chennaites know the dilemma we face once the rains or other natural calamities set in...old stories in new bottles. Nevertheless, these short breaks shuttling between the two capitals gives us a wider perspective on the joy of living, enjoying life to its fullest absorbing in all the sights, sounds and aromas!
Coming back to the restaurant and the dish that lured me into recreating what I did was this :- Hakka Paneer (Cottage Cheese) Outta this world-soft paneer in a concoction of herbs. I do not know their recipe but I came up with my own from the taste and aroma.
 |
| Google Images |
My marinade had a tsp. of lemon juice, soy sauce (which gives the black colour) chilly vinegar, tomato ketchup, red chilly paste (I just chopped and blended in a tsp. of two to three dry red chillies that were soaked in warm water for a while as I was out of the paste) and honey. If you have other sauces Hoisin or Plum Sauce add those too, anything that would resemble and taste what you are seeing. Keep tasting, it's all in the taste. Add adequate salt keeping in mind that your sauces have salt in them as preservatives. Let those two veggies sink in this marinade for a while.
In a wok on a high flame, this entire dish will be done before you can even blink your eyes ten times. Add a tsp. of oil, any oil that you prefer, toast a tsp. of sesame seeds in that and throw in all that ginger- garlic- spring onions-green chillies and toss them about. The aroma in you kitchen...throw it open to the neighbours to smell them...This is actually the perfect aromatics to a non-veg cooking, Sigh! Mine are all vegetarians! And my dish is vegetarian too! Not complaining, vegetarian dishes are really good if prepared well!
Remember it is Garlic Rice so don't shy away by reducing the quantity of the garlic. In a serving you should find them punctuating the rice.
 |
| Google Images |
Found some Yellow watermelon while grocery shopping hence diced them and served them as the fruit or dessert to go with the lunch. It has an almost honey like taste. Enjoy the colours on your plate.
 |
| Google Images I do hope I have been able to inspire you ! Enjoy! |
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