Imam Bayildi - Fainted Priest ....

Cooking - is it an art or a science?... To me it is certainly a science . I envy people who walk in to the kitchen without any plan and just throw in things and dish up a sumptuous meal. Though i love cooking i am definitely not a natural at it.. I need my measuring cups and spoons and scale and what not. Give me a recipe and i will follow it to the tee..I am not a creative cook yet.


During my stay in Istanbul this was one dish that i never failed to order..... I had this everyday. This dish is called 'Imam Bayildi' which translates to The Priest fainted'..There are several apocryphal stories about the origins of the dish. The imam (Muslim priest) fainted or swooned when he tasted how good it was. I did too!!!

This is a simple eggplant dish which is cooked in loads of olive oil , slashed in the middle and stuffed with tomatoes onion, garlic, parsley and dill.


you will need :

5 purple medium sized aubergines

Salt to taste

10 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 medium-size onions, cut lengthwise and thinly sliced

6 large garlic cloves, chopped

4 ripe tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped

Juice of one tomato/ half cup tomato juice


1/4 cup finely chopped fresh parsley leaves

2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill

1 teaspoon sugar

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1/4 cup water





Heat about 5 tbsp 0f oil and fry the aubergine for about 5 Min's while turning them frequently ensuring not to burn them.


Now arrange the aubergines in an oven proof dish.
With the help of a fork and knife gently slash the belly of the aubergine and split it open making sure not to cut them to the end.

To make the filling :

In the same skillet you cooked the eggplant, add the remaining oil and heat over medium-high heat, then cook the onion and garlic until soft, stirring frequently so the garlic doesn't burn. Add the chopped tomato , parsley , dill and sugar . Half way through add 1/2 cup water and cook till done.

Spoon in as much filling as you can in the split aubergine halves.

Now mix lemon juice, tomato juice 1/4 cup water and 1/2 tsp sugar separately and pour it over the stuffed aubergines.




Put it in moderate oven (180) for 40 Min's . Garnish with parsley.

Serve it with plain buttered rice and Greek yogurt.


Verdict :

1. Please dont go by the pictures. They dont do justice to this utterly melting deliciousness. I guess some dishes are not photogenic.
2. The almost creamy aubergine with the falvourful tomato sauce is divine.
Variation:

You may also add currants and pine nuts to the filling for a sweeter and nuttier version.

Meat lovers can add minced meat for the filling.

Terrific Turkey.....

Potters village in Cappadocia

Back from Turkey after three wonderful weeks my days are still filled with thoughts and beautiful sights of this amazing country. What struck me first was the extreme landscape and the terrain. The charming old city of Istanbul , the fairy chimneys of Capppadocia, awesome beaches of Antalya, pristine Pamukkale and of course the incredible Izmir - ' Terrific Turkey ' it is !!!

Sharing a bit of Turkey with u... Whatever little my camera could do!.

Carpet factory in Ephesus
Ephesus....

'Travel' has different meaning to each one of us ........Get away, adventure, fun, retreat, relax, shopping... Though it is a mix of all these to me , most importantly it means 'time to be with myself'. Time to download, process, get in touch with my thoughts and rediscover myself.

The valley of Cappadocia

Food in Turkey is truly an experience. Apart from the regular bistro and pub menu the authentic home made turksih food is incredibly divine. Wide variety of vegetables prepared with succulent tomato based sauces, liberal use of yoghurt and feta... takes the experience to a different level.

My favourites were :
'Ekmek' - Turkish bread and olives and homemade grape molasses and 'menemen' ( Scrambled eggs wtih vegetables and herbs) for breakfast.
'
'Manti' - mini pasta pockets with minced meat cooked and served in a bed of rich tomato sauce and creamy yogurt. They look lot like mini raviolis and 'Mezze platter' was for lunch. Or Bulgar rice with 'Imam bayildi' - eggplant stuffed with minced meat and cooked in tomato gravy

Snacked on 'Simit' - sesame bread, Charcoal roasted chestnuts and freshly squeezed orange juice.

Dinner was wide variety of Kebabs like Iskendar kebab or Testi kebab which is cooked in claypots for eight long hours , with Cappadocian red wine on the side .

Mango Orange Smoothie!!!

Hello All!!!! I am Back and delighted to be behind my computer catching up with friends and fellow bloggers. One month seems to be quiet a break and so much seems to have happened in the blogosphere... so many colourful recipes , so many interesting stories and many more interesting new bloggers... hmmm feels good to be back!.

Honestly i have been avoiding getting into the kitchen and sort of having quick fix meals ..... But one thing that i have been loading myself since i landed back home is 'Mango smoothie'. Oh my !! All one gets to see in the fruit market now are these divine smelling mangoes in all shapes and sizes.

With Orange juice and a dash of cardamom for flavouring this smoothie is truly refreshing!!.

Try it !.

Ingredients :

1/2 Mango peeled and cut into chunks
1 cup orange juice
1 cup ice cubes
1/2 tsp cardamom powder
2 tbsp yogurt
sugar if needed.

Method :

1. Place the ice cubes in the blender and crush the ice cubes
2. Add all the other ingredients except the cardamom powder and blend till creamy and smooth and pour in a tall glass .
3. Sprinkle with cardamom powder.

Sit back and enjoy!!!.

Cardamom is not a favourite among many . It can be substituted with minced mint !.

Choco Chip Muffins

Well Its summer and my travelling feet has been itching for a while now...
Going on a month long vacation !!..

See you all in June!. Of course i will miss blogging! Anyways catching up will be fun too!.

Happy Vacation to all of you!

Signing off with a simple Choco chip muffins from Nigellas's Kitchen.

Super simple and super Yumm !

Choco Chip Muffins

(Nigella's Kitchen)

INGREDIENTS
250g plain flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
Half-teaspoon bicarbonate soda
2 tablespoons best quality cocoa
175g caster sugar
150g chocolate chips (plus more for sprinkling later)
250ml milk
90ml vegetable oil
1 large egg
1 teaspoon real vanilla extract
METHOD
1.Preheat the oven to 200C and fill a 12-bun muffin tray with paper cases. I used silicon cases which were a thouhtful gift from a good friend and a terrific cook herself.
2.Weigh out the dry ingredients into a large bowl. Pour all the liquid ingredients into a measuring jug.

3.Mix both together – it will be a runny batter - then spoon into waiting muffin cases.


4.Sprinkle more chocolate chips on top then cook for 20 minutes or until the muffins are risen and springy.

Enjoy!!.

`Tamota Per Eeda' - Tomato - Poached Eggs

I have a great attraction for authentic and traditional dishes. It certainly tells one about the culture and evolution of food . I think what attracts me the most is understanding and learning the provenance and history of original dishes. What is even more fascinating is when one finds similar or sometimes even identical dishes across culture. One such dish that i recently came across is a parsi poached eggs in tomato sauce. when P and I were visiting a parsi family in Mumbai we were introduced to this awesome dish which is now a regular at home.
Parsis migrated to India many centuries ago from the Persia and settled in Mumbai. Amongst many things that they are known for they are also known for their distinctive cuisine which is mostly a combination of sweet and savoury .
Having mentioned about Parsis poached eggs - `Tamota per eeda' i found two other culture that makes exact same dish with very mild variation. It is known as `Huevos Rancheros' in Mexico and Shakshukah in Israel.
Huevos Rancheros is typically served on Tortillas while Shakshukah is served with a liberal topping of feta cheese. I love my Tamota per eeda on a thick chunk of rustic bread.


The creamy and sweet tomato sauce with the soft poached eggs is fabulous on toasted or grilled bread too.

It is super easy and perfect for anytime of the day.

Now for the recipe :


Paarsi Tomato - Poached Eggs

(Adapted from Anjum Anand's Indian Food Made Easy)
1 medium onion peeled 1/2 Green pepper finely chopped
3 tbsp oil
2 large cloves finely chopped or grated
1tsp ginger finely chopped
3/4 tsp ground cumin
1heaped tsp ground coriander
1/2 to 3/4 tsp red chili powder
1/2 tsp turmeric
8 plum tomatoes blanched , skinned ,deseeded and chopped (phew!)
6 eggs

Method:
1. Heat oil in a medium pan and fry the onion till golden brown
2. Add green pepper and cook for sometime.
3.Add garlic and ginger and cook for about a minute
4.Now add all the ground spices and salt and cook for few seconds
5. Add the tomatoes and stir well . Bring the pan to simmer and cook covered for 15- 20 mins. Cook till it becomes a creamy mixture. Add a splash of hot water if required. The gravy should be loose yet creamy !.
6. Smooth the surface of the mixture and make six hollows with the back of a spoon . Now carefully crack an egg in each hollow.


7. Cover and cook till the eggs are done to your liking. Roughly for about 2-4 mins.
Serve with grilled rustic bread or Tortillas!!!

' Aeblezkeiver'...

When my Mil's sister from Malaysia very sweetly carried this pretty 'flowered moulds' which weighs a tonne for me as a gift ,i was extremely touched and thrilled . I knew instantly that i could use it for a regular south Indian recipe that is made at home . She also mentioned that it is used to make a certain 'Danish Pancakes for breakfast menu's in restaurants in Malaysia...

My pretty flower moulds...

So i took it from there and started googling for danish pancakes and came upon this amazing stuffed roundels called 'aeblezkiver'...

Maybe some of you are already familiar with it.. But for those of you who, are like me unaware of , they are traditional dutch pancakes that are prepared in a special pan to create their ball/sphere shape. A typical 'aeblezkeiver' comes with a small slice of apple placed in the centre of each pastry. I made mine plain .

The ingredients are similar to that of a pancake but one can get adventurous with the flavouring though....

One can use lemon zest, cardamom, cinnamon, or vanilla ... or anything that catches ones fancy and stir it into the batter.

Now for the ings:

2 cups flour
3 to 4 tbsp sugar
1tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/4 th cup milk
1/2 tsp cinnamon powder
4 eggs
2 tbsp melted butter


1. Mix all the dry ings together...

2. Separate the eggs and lightly beat the egg whites and keep aside

3. Now add milk, egg yolks melted butter and mix well

4. Fold in the egg whites gently

The batter should be of dropping consistency.

Heat the 'abelezkiver ' pan, i did not use the traditional one but used the flower mould. Pour oil in each section of the mould and Pour in a spoonful of the batter and wait till it bubbles up...

Cook it covered till it is not wet anymore on top...


Now turn the pancakes over and cook it for a little while
Dust it with icing sugar....

and there you go ... Ablezkeiver ready!. The serving options are plenty. You can team them with jams, jellies, honey, maple syrup, nutella or fruit preserves...or can eat them plain as well. Similarly u can make stuffed pancakes too by inserting fruit pieces ,or chocolate, or jams or even marshmallow when the batter is still wet and turn them over and cook. I served mine with freshly made apple and cinnamon sauce.

If one uses a traditional mould i am sure it needs some practice to get it right... So i found this video which shows how to use the mould and also gives interesting anecdote about the origin of the pancakes...

They taste lovely and will be a sure hit with the kids...
They are super fluffy ,moist and definitely a change from the regular pancakes!.

Strozapretti with oven roasted cherry tomato sauce

Strozapretti, gnudi and Malfatti are some of the names of this popular Italian dish. This recipe has been on my list for sometime now and when i got a tub of ricotta last week i decided to give it a try.

This dish comes from Lombardy and actually means 'not pretty' in Italian. Now that is being ultra rude to this beautiful fluffy pillows which i thoroughly enjoyed making. Though they look like gnocchi they certainly are not dense and heavy . The fact that it uses very little flour more as a coating makes it super light and delectable.

I adapted this recipe from Delicious days and it was served with sauteed cherry tomatoes. Instead i made a super simple oven roasted tomato sauce and sauteed the spinach dumplings with the sauce and served it with loads of Parmesan flakes.

Loved the fruity flavour and sweetness of the sauce with the delightfully soft and light malfatti . I am sure this is a dish that i will be making very often.




Strozzapreti with sauteed cherry tomatoes

Recipe source: adapted from Delicious Days
Ingredients (serves 2-3):
200g spinach175g ricotta
30g grated Parmesan
1 egg
freshly ground black pepper
sea salt
freshly ground nutmeg
flour for hands
50g butter
Oven roasted Cherry tomato sauce - 3 tbsp
to serve: grated Parmesan and freshly ground black pepper


1.Wash the spinach, remove bigger stems and cook or steam until soft. Let the spinach cool down, then squeeze out any excessive liquid and chop finely.
2.In a large bowl mix together spinach, ricotta, egg, grated Parmesan and season with freshly ground black pepper, sea salt and nutmeg.
3.Meanwhile heat a large pot of salted water.
4. Dust your hands with flour and take a spoonful of the mixture in your hand and flap it from one hand to the other to give it the proper shape and get rid of the extra flour. But you could also try to dust a spoonful (tbsp) of the mix with some flour and carefully roll it with your hands into the desired shape.
5.Now drop them carefully into the pot with the simmering water, in small batches. They are done, as soon as they float on the surface which takes about two to three minutes. Remove with a skimmer.
6.Heat some butter in a pan and add the Strozzapreti and some cherry tomato sauce and Saute for one or two minutes and shake the pan occasionally, then serve on a plate with freshly ground pepper and grated Parmesan.





Oven Roasted Cherry tomato sauce :

1 bag of cherry tomatoes washed and halved

3 garlic finely minced

1/3 cup olive oil

sea salt to taste

1/2 tsp chili powder

2 tsp balsamic vinegar

freshly cracked pepper to taste.

1. Toss all the ingredients together and place it in a dish and put in a moderate oven (180) for about 50 Min's .



Malfatti Served.....