easy and quick cashew chicken stir fry and a trip to china town

Photo for "Less is More" Photography Exercise 

When we were kids, on Sunday after breakfast mom's kitchen was closed, and that was one day in the week she usually didn't cook. Sundays meant church, grocery shopping or trips to the zoo or the park, all of us watching the Mahabharata or Tipu Sultan on Door Darshan ( ah! those days before cable!) and the highlight being when dad would take us to our favourite neighbourhood eat out. Most often these were small hole in the wall kinds of places which I have learnt have some of the best food! Annapurna for crispy Dosas, the Shawarma stand at a nearby park, Moti Mahal for their yum butter chicken or to Golden Dragon, our neighbourhood Chinese restaurant where the food was in no way authentic to China but modified and spiced up to suit local tastes which is why I will only call it Asian inspired or Indo-Chinese.

Now that we live in the San Francisco Bay Area,  I have the opportunity to taste and discover many kinds of cuisines and sample unusual dishes and ingredients - from fresh tofu straight from the bamboo molds to funky fermented things. But even today when I crave Chinese food what I usually mean is the familiar, Indo-Chinese dishes like sweet and sour pork,  chilly chicken, gobi manchurian etc. that I grew up eating.

So when I recently wandered around the colourful and bustling San Francisco China Town where I guess I will taste the most authentic versions of Chinese Cuisine without actually taking a flight to China, I found the food ( apart from the dim sums which I LOVE) to be bland to my taste buds accustomed to the heavy dose of garlic and ginger and assaulted with spices. Although I am beginning to appreciate more subtleties and nuances in flavour, more often I like my flavours really bold!

Visiting China Town:
Walk! It's impossible to find parking here. Plus it's great to wander around and soak in the ambiance and especially interesting to visit during parades and festivals- though ofcourse would be much more crowded then.
My little one loved the stone lions outside the Chinese Benevolent Association building.
For knick knacks and props : The Far East Flea Market 
and The Wok Shop for cast iron woks and other kitchen utensils
Keep an eye out for street art by the UK artist Banksy 

I love going to China Town to pick up unusual ingredients and inexpensive little props for the blog. It's good to carry cash as some stores don't take cards.
It's also great fun to walk through the busy market and see weird things like dried sea urchin that I someday hope to find a way to use in my cooking! There are also lots of familiar things too, like this dried shrimp that made my Mallu mouth water.

China Town has very unique bakeries with impossibly fluffy sponge cakes and filled steamed cakes, and these cute shaped breads, that I spotted while I was traipsing down the busy markets, camera in one hand and my delicious bubble tea in the other. That was a good day!



When I got back home I was craving some of the kind of spicy Asian inspired stir frys that for me ( An Indian in the US)  is quintessential Chinese food. I am very curious to hear suggestions for authentic and unique Chinese food I should try next time in China Town.

I usually make stir frys in my cast iron skillet to give the chicken a nice sear and a better alternative to deep frying. Garlic powder gives it that restaurant type taste, though I often add a lot of fresh garlic as well, being a household of garlic lovers! I toss in what ever vegetables I have on hand- broccoli, mushroom, peas, even a bag of frozen mixed veggies. That day it was bell peppers and onions and a handful of cashews for crunch!  It may not be authentic, but it sure tastes good!

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quick cooker carrot pal paysam and a girl's day out in the city!

Gosh has it been a long time since my last post! Where to begin. Well I started working with a non-profit. Even though it is only part-time and I get to work from home,  it has been challenging managing deadlines and conference calls, what with having to report to a toddler as well, who we all know is the most demanding kind of boss!

While I have been cooking some and photographing a little, sadly blogging was put on the back burner. I wished for more hours in the day, but what I was really lacking was motivation.

And then last week, much needed motivation came  in the form of my lovely friends and super talented fellow bloggers Vijitha, Prerna and Kankana.  Along with two other new friends, Viji's Mom and our kids, we took a day off from our everyday routines to meet up in the city. We had been planning and discussing this for weeks. The night before we all made and packed snacks for the little ones, yummy beetroot parathas, ragi patties, chocolate loaf and some vattayappam from me ( recipe coming soon) I was so excited the night before I could hardly sleep, just like before long ago school excursions!

On the morning of our trip, I had a long call from work and all along I kept thinking of the bus I had to take to go meet the girls and if I missed it (which I did) I would have to wait an hour for the next one.  Thankfully T came to the rescue dropping me off to the ferry landing so that I could take the ferry to San Francisco and I must say we traveled in style! My little monkey and I thoroughly enjoyed our ferry ride and I am so glad I ended up missing that bus.

 

If there is one thing that I learnt in life is that everything is much, much better shared with a gang of girl friends. Whether it be prawn pickle in a hostel mess or pre-exam panic, or a beautiful outing. I miss my girl friends and roommates from my college and hostel days a lot and was beginning to think I would never be able to enjoy that kind of female bonding again. I am so thankful to have met some good friends even after moving here and at this stage of my life as a mom, when I think I need friends most!  We talked and laughed and munched, wandering through the market, pushing our strollers with our naughty toddlers along, while around us the city whirled and buzzed. Smartly suited professionals out for lunch waited patiently behind us as we discussed and debated what to order at the numerous little stalls within the ferry building.Young couples out on a date and nosy little pigeons edged out of the way of not one,  not two, but four strollers and us large group of chattering women, brandishing our cameras and clicking away. We must have been quite a sight!

I only took my point and shoot along and left the photography to the experts, but then they decided they wouldn't let me eat my ice cream in peace and suddenly, my melting malted chocolate cone from Humphry Solocome was caught up in the middle of a full blown photo-shoot.  I love that picture taken by Prerna and you can see Kankana and Viji's versions on their blog posts, beautifully capturing our magical day at the San Francisco Ferry building.

There was a farmers market happening that day and some of the girls bought gorgeous heirloom carrots to take home. Since they posted their carrot dishes as part of or impromptu group blogging activity to record our magical day out, I thought I too would blog about this super easy and very delicious cooker carrot pal payasam- a perfect spring time dessert!

Pal payasam is a sweet milk pudding that is commonly served in temples as prasadam in Kerala and most of South India. Phirni is a similar sweet dish, popular in North India which is served in clay pots which impart an earthy flavour and draw out the water, making the pudding thicker and creamier. While we add a handful of rice to give the sweet some body, it is not really a rice pudding, more of a milk pudding I think!. I used basmati rice although traditionally a special type of payasam rice called Unakalari is used in Kerala which imparts a pinkish colour to the pudding. You could use brown rice, but do not use glutinous or sticky Asian rice. This payasam is mainly sweetened milk which is slowly cooked, stirring for hours until it has reduced and tastes somewhat like condensed milk. Often it is made with creamy buffalo milk.

I made this in the pressure cooker, so it was super easy and quick, but you can also make this in a slow cooker or the traditional way-cooking it in a wide pot ( so that there is more surface area for the water in the milk to evaporate faster) until the milk has reduced to half it's original volume, though you have to watch that the milk at the bottom of the pan doesn't burn, so you have to stir it occasionally.

I added some grated carrot which melded very well, imparting their sweetness without overpowering the flavour of the milk which is the star. Sometimes a pinch of cardamom powder or saffron is used, and the pudding is  usually garnished with chopped nuts, but I agree with purists that this is not necessary as you don't want anything distracting from the wonderful taste of the reduced milk. 

4 Ingredient, quick and easy Carrot Pal Payasam

Ingredients:

• Carrots 6 medium ( omit for traditional pal payasam)
• Kerala Rosematta or Basmati Rice 1/4 cup ( Not sticky or glutinous rice) 
• Sugar 1/2 to 1 cup ( You can easily adjust  sweetness depending on your preference, start with less and you can also add more sugar if needed at the end) 
• Milk 4 cups ( I used whole milk) 
• Ghee or butter 1 tbsp
• Chopped nuts for garnishing ( not necessary) 

Directions

Pulse the rice in a blender a few times to break it up. Do not grind it to a powder. 

(I skip this step if I'm in a hurry.)

Wash the broken rice and let it drain in a strainer

Grate the carrots using a box grater or food processor

Heat the ghee or butter in a large pressure cooker or a heavy pot 

Add the carrots and cook, stirring until they no longer taste raw

Add the sugar and stir for a few minutes more until the sugar melts completely

Now add the rice and the milk  and mix everything well

If you are using a pressure cooker, put the lid and the whistle on. 

Cook on medium heat until one whistle.

As soon as the whistle goes, switch the heat on to low for about 10 more minutes and then switch off the flame.

(If you leave it on for too long, the pressure cooker may leak all over your kitchen so be careful!)

Once you have switched off the heat, leave it on the stove until all the steam has gone.

(Go do something else like paint your nails or read that blog post you had bookmarked!)

Once all the steam has gone, open the pressure cooker and taste. If you want you can add more sugar now.
Stir the payasam occasionally on med-low flame (with the lid off) to thicken it more to your liking.
Serve warm or chilled ( I prefer it chilled as it gets a little thicker and creamier)

Keeps well in a lidded container in the fridge for a few days. Make sure it has cooled before keeping in the fridge.

The taste of this payasam is rich and luxurious and I was craving it for days after it was all over. You might think that 1/4 cup of rice is not much but it really bulks up, absorbing the milk and you really don't want to add more. Even if you are a cardamom freak like me, and be tempted to add some or other spices- don't. Let the reduced milk flavor shine through!

I will be sending my carrot pal payasam to The Kerala Kitchen hosted by Jehanne of The Cooking Doctor this month 

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Jeni's Splendid Pistachio Ice cream Recipe - Homemade Artisan Ice cream!

Growing up in India my favourite brands of ice cream was Vadilal's which had fresh fruit bits, the mother dairy ice cream of Delhi which is very rich and creamy, and the now no longer available Dollop's which had a very interesting Gorilla vanilla that I still remember the taste of. I also LOVE Naturals and their pink gauva ice cream is JUST like biting into a frozen yet smooth luscious guava. I've heard that their Tender coconut ice cream is absolutely divine and I can't wait to taste it.I remember visiting a distant relative's Joy ice cream franchise and seeing a long ribbon of vanilla ice cream fall into a vat and thinking he must be the luckiest person on earth to have all that ice cream right in his back yard.

Coming to the US, I have fallen in love with Haagen-daz, though Ben and Jerry's was a bit of a disappointment.I have heard that the Bi-rite creamery in SFO is really good so that's next on my list.
The best ice cream I ever ate however is all the way on the other side of the country but then, Jeni's Splendid Ice creams are worth travelling all the way to Columbus for. Or you could mail order it. I choose option 3- Make some!

Jeni Britton is an Ice cream Goddess and makes artisan ice cream which has one simple secret- She doesn't use eggs so that nothing interferes with the delicious flavor of the cream and flavors as innovative as goat's cheese with roasted cherries, salty caramel to chocolate cayenne. She uses cornstarch to thicken the base, as well as cream cheese to add some scoopability.
I always hated pista ice cream. Usually it is bright gloopy green mess. Not so at Jeni's. Here is what it looks like!
Before you make it, you might want to read some tips from Jeni here
If you don't have an ice cream maker, use this method to make it without one

Jeni's Splendid Pistachio Ice cream

Recipe Source: Jeni Britton's "How to make Ice cream like an Artisan"

Ingredients

• 2 cups whole milk
• 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon cornstarch
• 1 1/2 ounces cream cheese, softened (3 tablespoons)
• 1 1/4 cups heavy cream
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 tablespoons light corn syrup
• 1/2 cup toasted pistachios, very finely ground
• 1/4 teaspoon pure almond extract
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt ( I didn't have any so I skipped this. Don't add regular table salt as this could make it too salty)

Method

• In a cup, mix 2 tablespoons of the milk with the cornstarch. In another large bowl, whisk the cream cheese until smooth.
• In a large saucepan, combine the remaining milk with the heavy cream, sugar and corn syrup. Bring the milk mixture to a boil and cook over moderate heat until the sugar dissolves, about 4 minutes. Turn off the heat, gradually whisk in the cornstarch mixture. Return to a boil and cook over moderately high heat until the mixture is slightly thickened, about 1 minute.
• Gradually whisk the hot milk mixture into the cream cheese until smooth. Whisk in the pistachios, almond extract and salt. Set the bowl in another bowl filled  with ice water and let stand, stirring occasionally, until cold, about 20 minutes. Jeni suggests keeping the base in the fridge overnight to develop the flavours, but you don't have to.
• Strain the ice cream base into an ice cream maker, pressing the pistachios with the back of a spoon to extract all the flavor, and churn according to the manufacturer's instructions. 

I used my cuisinart flavor duo ice cream maker and after about 20-30 mins the ice cream was creamy and had a soft serve consistency-good enough to eat right away.
However to make it firmer like proper ice cream:
Pack the ice cream into a plastic container (I used a zip lock freezer safe container)
Press a sheet of plastic wrap directly onto the surface of the ice cream and close with an airtight lid. Put the container in a plastic bag and freeze the pistachio ice cream until firm, about 4 hours or overnight.
It might be really hard after, so leave for about 5 mins before serving so that it become a tad bit softer.
Here is a picture of the ice cream straight out of the machine where it has a soft-serve consistency. The pictures at the beginning of the post are after it has been frozen overnight.

Verdict: This is the very first time I'm making ice cream at home and I was shocked frankly, at how good this came out! So forgive me for gushing. It was delicious, the flavour of the cream and pistachio really came out wonderfully. I didn't have corn syrup so I used some Jemima's pancake syrup since it listed corn syrup as one of the main ingredients! Yes I know, substitution queen-that's me. However this made my ice cream a tad bit too sweet, but that's all. Everything else about it is dreamy, creamy, glorious and I am not ashamed to admit- I licked my bowl clean!

Variation: NExt time I make this, I will definitely try adding a little rosewater and drizzle on some honey :) 

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