Lemon Couscous Spring Chicken In a Pot- and of goodbyes and new beginnings!

Spring has very loudly announced her presence for a while now, around here. Little shoots poke out from the ground and buds burst open into a riot of colours. Tree branches that had nothing more than barren twigs, are covered with pink petaled flowers almost overnight.

I made a trip to our beautiful farmer's market here in Marin along with friends Patty and Gina recently, and we were greeted by piles and piles of bountiful produce, that has come to life after the cold death of winter.  Bright orange carrots and pretty radishes freshly dug from the brown earth. All around me, visible signs of change, new beginnings, rebirth.

Today is Good Friday, the solemn day we remember the death of Jesus. But it is followed, like Spring follows Winter, with the greatest celebration in the Christian calendar- Easter, this Sunday. As we prepare to celebrate Christ's resurrection after His death,  we are reminded of our own resurrection after our life here on Earth is done. Reminded that our troubles, achievements and everything here in this life is only temporary- a passing mist, compared to our everlasting life to come.

The Jewish festival of Passover falls at the same time, and symbolically the two events are linked- Christians believe that Jesus Christ was sacrificed as the pascal lamb that was traditionally slaughtered for Passover. That Jesus, the son of God was crucified, accepting unbearable suffering so that each and every one on the earth, would be forgiven for our sins, and saved. He paid the price for our souls, taking on the punishment each of us deserve for our sins.

Of course, this does not mean that sin does not have consequences  What it means is that while we are here on Earth, we have the opportunity to confess our sins and avail of God's grace to "fix" ourselves and our lives, and resolve to sin no more. To put our past behind us, and start afresh.

As we celebrate new beginnings, there are going to be some major changes and new beginnings in my own life too. We have been considering this decision for a while, and it had become something we thought of as being inevitable, eventually, but somewhere at the back of our minds. Recently however, God aligned things to make this decision for us: We are moving to India! Soon, much sooner than we had initially planned.

I am very excited but honestly, equally anxious. There is SO much to do and I wish we had more time to do it. I dread my long to-do list, I dread the packing, the planning, the starting from scratch. I just want to hide and pretend that it will all take care of itself! There is furniture that will hopefully get sold, the letting go of so many things that I had accumulated and grown attached to. I hope this hard exercise is going to teach me to finally do something I strive to- to live simpler, to own less, to be less attached to mere things. Less to store and maintain, less to clutter and clean up after, less to carry around. Let's hope this resolution holds!

But in all this confusion, I feel God's hand guide us, helping me strike one more thing off my list, and then another. When I am anxious, I remember to surrender.

I am one of those people who hate change so it took me a while to get used to the very idea of the big move. I thought about everything I would miss. I will deeply miss our beloved farmer's market, the wonderful library, the long walks with my little man to the duck pond close by, the hills outside my window. I will crazily miss being only a short ride away from the cuisines of Argentina to Ethiopia and Vietnam and our regular barbecue picnics by China Camp State Park. Seeing my beloved Golden Gate shrouded by fog. I will dearly miss the friends we made here, and I know my little man will miss his friends here too.

Another half of me though, is growing more and more excited by the day. Excited about meeting up with family and our dear old friends whom we haven't seen in too long a while. One of my favorite cousin's wedding is on the day after we land and I couldn't be more thrilled that it is one wedding we won't have to miss! Looking forward to being steeped in tradition, colour, and chaos! I look forward to experience the wonderful food of my home with fresh eyes and to learn more about Indian cooking while I also try to recreate the food I enjoyed here. I look forward to wandering around the busy, colorful and crowded markets there and drinking cutting chai by the road side. To enjoy sweet golden mangoes and mangosteens from my grandmother's garden.

Lots to look forward to, hopefully even more beautiful than the wonderful years we will be leaving behind.

This means that things might get a little quiet around here, as I force my self away from the laptop and wrap up some stuff, but I will be back soon with new stories! And I won't be able to stay away from  facebook or instagram or twitter and will probably be bombarding you with minutia leading up to the big fat move!

To all our friends here: I hate saying goodbye, so I won't. See you in South India my loves, let me be your tour guide!

To all the old friends we are meeting and the new friends I hope to make: I. Cannot. Wait.

In celebration of Spring, while its still not very warm in most parts of the country, here is a one pot chicken dish adapted from Dorie Greenspan's Around My French Table: More Than 300 Recipes from My Home to Yours, which is very simple to make so is perfect if you are looking for an easy to throw together, yet dramatic Easter dish.

It makes the best of Spring veggies and you can drop in what ever you have on hand. Carrots, cabbage, caramelized shallots and garlic, everything is just sublime cooked along with the chicken. I had to experiment and add my own touch so added some lemons which add a wonderful tangy brightness and served with some couscous that readily soaked up the glorious chicken "gloop" as Dorie calls it.

This dish is a truly wonderful thing, way awesomer than the sum of its parts. Flavorful and bright from the lemon, it is a great way to finally welcome Spring! 

I pretty much followed Dorie's instructions that you can read on her blog here

Basically you take the biggest pot you have and heat some oil and sautee garlic,  and some shallots or onions and whatever vegetables you like- I just used some carrots
Then heat oil in a skillet and brown a whole chicken that has been patted down ( Remove the giblets and if you like, the skin as well- I did) and seasoned liberally with salt and pepper. No need to cut up the chicken, or you can use some chicken thighs instead of a whole chicken.
Place the chicken breast side down ( this I think is very important to avoid drying out the breast)  on to the veggies
Place wedges of cabbage and lemon as much as you can fit into your pot around the chicken.
Stir together a half a cup of wine, half a cup of olive oil and a cup of chicken broth ( or water mixed with bullion) and whatever herbs you like- I just used some dried oregano and thyme because I didn't have any fresh herbs,  and pour this over the chicken.
Then I just covered my pot with a tight lid, but Dories makes a flour-paste to seal the lid, or suggests using foil to cover the pot tightly.
Bake for 70 mins in an oven that has been preheated to 450 F

As Dorie promises, the chicken bakes up to be fall apart tender and gosh so amazingly flavorful  The juices or "gloop" is definitely the best thing about this dish, and the couscous and cabbage that magically soaks up all this flavour gets finished off first! Seriously don't skip the cabbage even if you are a cabbage hater. It transforms into something truly amazing. And I definitely recommend adding the lemon-made the chicken taste tangy fresh and just perfect for Spring!

Reminder: There are only two more days left to enter the giveaway for a very useful straining saucepan by Gitadini  so don't forget to stop by and leave your entry if you haven't already! 

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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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cumin roasted cauliflower soup- hearty & healthy

“Let us be concerned for each other, to stir a response in love and good works” (Heb 10:24) BXVI: The Lenten season offers us once again an opportunity to reflect upon the very heart of Christian life: charity #Lent #Pope2You  - From the Pope's daily twitter updates during Lent

Sometimes an idea will come and settle in my head. Then it's like everything around me conspires to make me put that idea into action. That idea for some time now was earth shattering. Life changing. Actually it was just...cumin roasted cauliflower soup.

See, I discovered the joy of roasted veggies only after moving here with a large, lovely oven at my disposal. As a kid I wouldn't eat cauliflower unless it was crispy fried like in Gobi Manchurian a delectable but greasy Indo- Chinese dish. Since then I have grown to appreciate my veggies, but even more so after I discovered roasting them. Baked sweet potato "fries", broiled sweet bell peppers, smoky roasted eggplant and best of all, cumin roasted cauliflower bliss.
So while I have been routinely roasting my cauliflower sprinkled with a little cumin, pepper and salt and enjoying delicious cauliflower chips for some time now, one day I just had the idea to make them into soup.

Since that day I kept hearing cauliflower everywhere- the women at the table next to ours at a restaurant kept raving about the cauliflower soup they were having and which I then wished I had ordered. Then some good friends blogged about it or mentioned making it and by then I was longing/craving cauliflower soup and just had to make it!

There are lots of cauliflower soups out there. A friend recently made one that was light, refreshing and delicious and I'm looking forward to her recipe and hope to try it soon too.
This one is hearty, thick and robustly flavorful and very filling. Soup never makes me feel full. But this one does. And its healthy and yummy to boot.

Yesterday was Ash Wednesday, which begins the season of Lent for us Christians. It is a period of penance, abstinence and sacrifice, remembering the pain and suffering of Jesus Christ, Who we believe died painfully on the Cross to atone for all our sins. This period of around 40 days leads up to Easter which celebrates the resurrection of Christ from the dead and reminds us that we too must strive not for the fleeting pleasures of this life but of eternal life in Heaven.

During Lent we are called to pause and reflect on our own lives and turn away from sin. We are to do charitable acts and to observe fasts as a simple exercise of "showing our passions who is boss" and knowing that we can control our desires if we want. Even if our desires in themselves may not be sinful, indulging every one of them could be dangerous, making us more likely to give in to sin so we practice a little self restraint during this time.

Some people give up meat and alcohol or something else they really like during this time. There was a little girl who gave up the colour pink, her absolute favorite :) People find really creative ways to make their Lenten sacrifices like this girl I read about who is giving up fashion for a cause. In support of those giving up meat for Lent I plan to post several more healthy vegetarian dinner ideas in the coming month like this soup.

For me eating only veggies is quite a treat and not really a sacrifice so I will have to find something unpleasant but good for me to do. Any ideas? maybe giving up sweets or undertaking a major kitchen and paperwork re-organisation effort. Or I might have to take up some form of exercise especially after the two year old  bumped his head against my tummy today and then kept saying "bouncy-bouncy!"

You don't have to be Christian to participate in Lent. A little self restraint once in a while is good for everyone. But I must admit -this soup with some flaky onion biscuits for dinner? Not very sacrificial at all!

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pressure cooker pork chops kerala style

Valentine's day is coming up and I know I am supposed to post something that involves little chocolate hearts and pink frosting. I may or not be doing that in my next post. But today's post is for everyone who is looking for a great, easy one pot meal idea to cook for your guys for Vday or for a Super Bowl dinner or even an everyday dinner that will knock their socks off.
You know how they say that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach? Well this recipe for Kerala style spicy and tender pork chops is definitely man bait. Cupcakes piled high with frosting might make your girl friends happy. But its no secret that men like their meat. When its this delicious and easy to make so do I!

Pork chops that are tender and flavourful and seem like I have slaved over them all day. I haven't. But I don't have to admit that  :)

This recipe is from my mother. She along with my sister and I are veggie and lentil lovers. My father and brother are serious carnivores and they both love this and request it often and my mom happily obliges because it is so easy to make. When my mom came to stay with us, this is one of the first things she cooked for her new son-in-law too and years later he still remembers "the delicious pork chops your mom made".

This recipe is also popular in a lot of my aunts homes and others in Kerala too although it is not a traditional Kerala recipe. It was probably introduced there by Anglo Indian or British cooks and became popular and later adapted among the pork-loving Syrian Christian community. Another favourite is the Portuguese inspired fiery mouth scorching Pork Vindaloo. This dish is much less spicy and can be made with beef or mutton chops as well. Make it even if you are just cooking for yourself. Leftovers taste even better and this can be easily frozen as well.

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