Rice | Aapplemint

With Beau Cook (MasterChef) & Carol Selva Rajah

All, Featured, Non-Vegetarian 20 Responses »

Oct 052012

About 3 weeks ago I got a mail from a long lost school mate, asking if I’d like to be a part of a travel n food show. Its with Carol Selva Rajah a celebrated Australian Celebrity Chef and one of the Australian master chef finalists, he said. I was like sure, why not … anything for food. Now I must be really lucky, I blindly said yes, without really knowing the details, All I was told, is that they’d like me to do a little bit of Fusion Cooking. The day after that 8:30 pm sharp, they were at my door – The celebrity chef’s with their filming team. Its only then I realized how big this was, and how fortunate I was to have Beau Cook and Carol Selve Rajah in my house, let alone cooking for them !! They were shooting for this new series – Eat With Your Eyes, that will be out early in 2013. They had toured all over India and covered the food and culture and were now in Mumbai. After filming the popular street food, they were in my house, filming Beau n me, in my kitchen – Cooking ! I cannot even begin to tell you how that felt. I was nervous as hell initially – ya ! first time on camera : it can be pretty unnerving believe you me, plus an amateur home cook, cooking for pros. But it went off so smoothly. It was like one big house party. I didn’t realise where the time slipped by from the moment they entered that door. It was so much fun, just being around them, talking about food, sharing stories and experiences. It was the DP’S (camera man’s) birthday, so we cut a cake, ate, drank, and some part of me wished the night would never end. But as all good thing do, this had too, and thankfully just before they left I remembered to pull my camera out and get a picture of us.

Its only after they left, that I got to see my phone, n realised I had a over dozen messages. Half the girls of the city were envious and would give an arm n a leg to be in my place. Hahahaha … yes it was because of the very talented, extremely kind and sweet, not to mention cute as ever : Beau Cook. Turns out, MasterChef is very popular here, and Beau very famous. So this picture is for you ladies … eat your hearts out … lol :-p

Cherry on the pie is … A little interview with him for you

Me : Five things in your fridge right now ?

Beau : Lamb, chillies, lots of different cheese, lots of herbs and some left over bolognaise sauce

Me : Most memorable Master Chef experience ?

Beau : Going to Italy!! It was amazing to spend two and a half weeks on a food tour with my new MC family.

Me : Most challenging ingredient to cook with ? Why ?

Beau : Chocolate! Its something I never really cook with.. But I think I have my head around the basics now.

Me : Tell a story about your biggest cooking disaster that you turned around into a success. How did you do it?

Beau :I faced an elimination pressure test which happened to be a complex desert (not my strong point!) but somehow got through and pulled off an awesome desert

I just followed the recipe at every point and worked clean and efficient (pays to be clean haha!)

Me : Your dream dinner location? What one dish would you bring to the table?

Beau : It would have to be on a quiet beach in north Queensland, Australia.. And I would serve some delicious bbq prawns and a local wine or beer

Me : One cooking tip you’d love to share with your fans.

Beau : The key to good cooking is balance!! Always taste during cooking and make sure you have a good balance between sweet, sour, salty and spice

Me : Your most favourite thing to cook/make

Beau : Anything on the BBQ. Its an Aussie favourite and you can get pretty creative with it as well.

Carol Selva Rajah, is an award winning author of eleven cookbooks on South East Asian cooking. She has had international success as the first Australian woman invited to cook at the prestigious James Beard Foundation in New York, and subsequently on the QE11. She has worked as celebrity chef in hotels in major cities around the world and lectures to students and to interested cooking students and historians. Over the years, Carol has contributed to a diverse range of publications including the Australian Gourmet Traveler. The Sydney Morning Herald’s Good Living Magazine and Kitchen Culture Food and Travel, Singapore. In 2001, she won the coveted Jaguar Gourmet Traveler Award for excellence in Gastronomic Travel for “Day trips to Asia” in Cabramatta which have become a template for other food tours today. Carol divides her time between Malaysia, Los Angeles, California and Sydney writing, teaching and pairing spicy Asian food with beer. She conducts yearly lectures to culinary historians in the US and is in the process of doing a couple of television shows. Carol, was very sweet, warm and I felt comfortable around her instantly. She’s a lady of great experience and yet so humble. She was too kind to give me an autographed copy of her book “Malaysian Cooking” from which I made Sambal Oelek today. The sauce was so good and it took no time at all to prepare it. Its so versatile, that you could make Prawns, Fish anything you like in it. Its great even on its own as a dip. I had some chicken so I just marinated it for a couple of hours in it, and made it a bit saucy-curry style to have it with steamed rice. Sambals are popular in Malayaisa, Indonesia, Singapore, Phillipines, Sri Lanka … Its a paste made from red chillis. I remember I fell in love with it last year, when our family went on one of our many Phuket Holidays. I bought back a jar from there, but after making this I would be silly if I ever bought one again.

Sambal Oelek

24 Red Chillis

2 onions ,sliced

10 cloves of garlic

2 inch piece of ginger

2 teaspoons of soft/shaved palm sugar

200 ml rice vinegar

salt to taste

2 tablespoons oil

Just grind all these ingredients together to form a smooth paste. In a sauce pan, bring to a boil and cook for 5 mintues till the water from the onions evaporates and the sauce reduces a bit. You can cool the sauce and store it in the fridge . Great for marinades and dips.

Chicken Sambal Oelek

Take one whole chicke, jointed and cut into pieces, Make gashes all over so that the sauce seeps deep into the meat. Take a few tablespoons of the sauce and rub it in the chicken and let it marinate about 2 hours.Take some oil in a non stick pan, and stir fry the chicken, making sure it gets colour on all sides. Now pour some more of the sauce , mix well and cover with lid. Let the chicken simmer for about 20 mins or till its done. Now lift the lid and check for seasoning. Add some light soy sauce and a pinch of salt if required. Serve with steamed rice.

This is a spicy dish

Vimto Chicken … One of its kind recipe !

All, Featured, Non-Vegetarian 16 Responses »

Apr 192011

Who writes the rules in cooking, who writes the Do’s and Dont’s ? In baking sweets yes I agree you need to follow a recipe to a certain extent. Baking needs that perfection, the right quantities the right temperature to achieve the perfect result, but with general cooking, you can just about do anything. We all own so many cookbooks, there are zillions of recipes out there … stuff we browse through, when we’re in book stores, books we order online. This one time I got some really good books from this site OLX Classifieds. And all these books showcase the authors and cooks style, recipes they created … they followed some rules, and made some of their own. Each one of us have that in us. We can all create … play a little God in the kitchen. And then pray to the real one up there that it turns out okay. As long as all the flavours come together, there is a balance of ingredients and everyone is smacking their lips n licking their fingers at the table, I guess everything is allowed. So all this start up is for a reason. Brother in law over in town, the whole family was eating together … Saturday lunch … scratching my head as to what I should make … leafed around a couple of magazines, but didn’t quite like anything .You know how we all go through, “I want to make something different today” days.’ Started faffing around my pantry looking for something new to add to my chicken … pulled out some spices, then some veg, n then I thought, why not add lentils? We Indian’s only use our lentils in Dal’s so this would be new … and then that extra something to turn the dish around, I thought Pomegranate molasses would be just perfect. But I just couldn’t find that bottle, instead I spotted a bottle of Vimto Cordial. And suddenly I thought why not ? Vimto is concentrated juice blend of grapes, raspberries, blackcurrants, herbs and spices. Not sure of how it might go on the table I added a tiny bit first, and it didn’t taste so bad. So then one more tablespoon, and it was just right. I knew that with the blend of all the spices, veg and lentils, this would end up being a delightfully different dish. And delightfully different it was ! How everyone fell on top of that chicken and polished off ! After lunch, when everyone couldn’t stop praising the chicken, I asked if anyone could guess the secret ingredient. They came up with all sorts of things, but no one could guess it. When I revealed it … no one could believe that Vimto in chicken could taste so good. I sat back and smiled …

Ingredients

1 full chicken – cut into 8 pieces with skin on
2 tsp cinnamon pd
2 tsp cumin pd
1 tsp crushed black pepper
4 star anise ground in a motar and pestle
1 tbsp ginger paste
1 tbsp garlic paste
1 tsp chilli flakes
2 tbsp fresh oregano
juice of 1 lime
1 cup puy lentils
1 big carrot
2 small potatoes
6 red chillis ( the not so spicy variety ) slit and deseeded
1 stalk celery
2 tbsps Vimto
salt to taste

Start with marinating the chicken. 1 hour is sufficient. In a mortar and pestle, crush the star anise to a fine powder and add to it the cinnamon, cumin, black pepper, fresh oregano, chilli flakes, salt, ginger , garlic, lime juice and give it a good stir. Rub this marinade on the chicken massaging it well for about 5 mins. Take 2 table spoons of the Vimto cordial and pour it over the chicken and give it one more good mix. Please do not hesitate to use your hands. Your meat needs that tender loving care from you. Let it sit outside for an hour. Meanwhile chop up the potatoes, carrots and celery. Boil the lentils in a sauce pan with plenty of salted water. When just about half done turn of the heat and pour off the excess water leaving behind some. Will need that while baking the chicken. Preheat the oven to 240 C . Taking a baking dish, and spread a layer of the lentils first along with some of the water. Then place the chicken pieces and squeeze in the veg evenly. Now sprinkle over the remaining lentils and bake for 20 mins on 240 C and then cover with foil and further bake at 160 C for another 20 mins or till the veg is soft and chicken cooked through. Garnish with the chopped up leaves of the celery stalk and fresh oregano. Serve with some extra lime and hot steamed rice.

Tropical Pineapple Rice

All, Featured, Vegetarian 50 Responses »

Mar 242010

One of the great things in Ghana is the Sunshine. Not only in the skies, but on everyone’s faces. If you haven’t already heard this … Ghanaian’s are amongst the friendliest in all African countries. But Ghana is also very typically hot, and if you’re wondering which is the best time to be there … well there really is no ‘best’ time to be in Ghana, as the temperature is always Africa-hot and if rainfall doesn’t soak you, then the humid air will. So trying not to pay too much attention to the sticky hot weather and looking at the smiles on everyone’s faces, you’ve got to enjoy this tropical weather with the abundance of its lovely fruits. Blessed with some of the most fertile lands, this country amongst so many other things, is also famous for its pineapples. With 85% of its exports to the European markets, Ghana exports a whopping 42,000 tons of pineapples a year globally, pulling in $20 million annually !! Wow … all that just selling pineapples internationally … and ofcourse + catering to the entire countries consumption too. It would be silly of me not to feature a pineapple while being still in the land. One post is not enough to do justice … but atleast its a start. They are available in different qualities, but I know them this way … there are the yellow ones and there are the white ones … I love the white ones. I would never touch pineapples in my country or anywhere else, as they would always make my tongue n cheek go funny and itchy, but these little babies … they’re something else ! So smooth, juicy and above all sweet ! These sun-kissed pineapples are the finest the world has seen. And they make a really terrific fried rice.

Tropical Pineapple Fried Rice

1/2 yellow onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium sized carrot, diced
1 medium sized red pepper diced
1 medium sized green pepper diced
1 cup of peas
1 egg, scrambled 1 handful of chopped spring onions
1 cup cooked jasmine rice
1/4 cup pineapple juice
1/2 cup pineapple diced
1 tablespoon tamari ( or a dash of dark soya sauce)
1 tbsp. yellow curry powder

Start with cutting all the veg and setting them aside. Cook the rice till 95 % done, drain and spread out on a tray so they dry out.
Cook scrambled eggs, set aside. Now in a really hot wok cook onion, carrot, pea, garlic,the peppers & pineapple chunks, set aside.
Fry the rice for 1 minute and add the veggies back in. Now add pineapple juice, tamari, and curry powder. Garnish with the greens of spring onion, and for a beautiful presentation, scoop out the inside of a pineapple and stuff the rice inside. Serve immediately.

Ghanaian Jollof Rice & Beef Kebab

All, Non-Vegetarian, Vegetarian 30 Responses »

Jan 272009

As you’ve probably guessed I’m back in Ghana. And ever since I’ve gotten here, all i want to eat is the local cuisine. Been away for too long, and had an overdose of the Desi Indian food. Knowing me n how quickly i get bored of things its not a surprise that when I’m here, i am craving Honkie food, n when in Hong Kong, i miss the Indian stuff, n when in India I’m ready to run away n get back here ! Well for now, the new thing with me is I absolutely cant stand anything sweet. I’ve just been binging on all things spicy, salty n sour ! Shocking ain’t it ? Never thought you’d hear that from me, but its true. I think the next couple of posts will be about everything that’s not sweet. Hmmm … so lets get started with today’s special. This was lunch … Joll Of Rice n Beef Kebabs. Joll of Rice is common throughout West Africa, but its origin lies in Ghana. Its a very aromatic and flavourful one pot rice meal. Its great on its own or even when accompanied with grilled meats. You can have a veggie, chicken or meat version of it. For the benefit of my vegetarian friend I’ve made a veggie one today, but to make it non veg, just add strips or tiny cubes of your favourite meat in there.

The quintessential ingredients to most of the Ghanaian cooking are Maggie cubes, rich tomato paste, scotch bonnet chillies and Maggie Arome seasoning. You have these and you know your dish is winner.

Joll Of Rice

1 & 3/4 cup basmati rice
4 tbsp olive oil
3 heaped tbsp tomato paste
1 red onion chopped
2 red onions
2 tomatoes
2 fat cloves of garlic
1″ piece of ginger
4 scotch bonnet chillies – reduce if you dont like it spicy
2 cubes of Maggie chicken cubes
2 carrots sliced diagonally
handful of french beans cut diagonally
7-8 okra’s sliced diagonally
salt to taste

In a food processor, grind together the ginger, garlic, chillies, tomatoes and 2 onions. Keep aside for later. In a non stick frying pan heat the 4 tablespoons of olive oil and fry the chopped onion till soft then add the tomato paste and fry for further 3-4 minutes. Now add the blended tomato n onion mix and fry well. Crumble in the 2 Maggie cubes and mix well. Cover and let it cook through, till the oil floats on the top. Now add the rice and 2 cups of water, stirring it to make sure nothing is sticking to the bottom. In another frying pan, drizzle a few drops of olive oil and stir fry the beans, carrots and okra with a sprinkle of salt just till they are half done. Now add these to the rice, and by this time the rice will need some more water. Add 2 more cups of water, and cook till the water is almost evaporated. Now cover and simmer of slow gas till the rice is cooked through. ‘Joll of’ is now ready ! Children love this dish as its a great way to get some nutrition into their system.

Beef Kebab – 4 skewers

200 gms Beef fillet, cut into cubes
3 Scotch Bonnet Chillies
3 fat cloves of garlic
2 tbsp grated ginger
1 n 1/2 red onion
1 chicken Maggie cube
2 tbsp of Maggie seasoning
2 tbsp olive oil
1 large green pepper cut in cubes
1 large red onion cut in cubes

In a food processor, grind together the chillies, ginger, garlic, onion, Maggie cube, seasoning and oil. Form a smooth paste and marinate the beef for at least 4 hours. Now thread these onto your metal skewers alternating with the peppers and onions. Grill on charcoal till the meat is tender n almost falling of the sticks. Serve with some Joll of Rice .

A Yellow Tribute To The Departed

All, Dessert 15 Responses »

May 052007

Everywhere i look i see yellow.Who is responsible for that ? Barbara of winosandfoodies .Why, ‘cuz she has undertaken a noble task of creating awareness about cancer.A Taste Of Yellow , is a recognised event by the Lance Armstrong Foundation and i’m glad i can participate in this event to help create awareness.In 1991 i lost my grandmother to throat cancer.In 1994 i lost my grandfather to brain cancer (tumor).In 2004 i lost my most adorable aunt in the whole world to breast cancer. And now 2007 another aunt is diagnosed with Cervical cancer.It is very painful to see your loved ones suffer and loosing them is unimaginable. This event have stirred up many emotions for me and there was no way i was going to miss participating in this event.

My Aunt would’ve loved this one…..

MANGO PHIRNI (better known as pudding )

2tbps basmati rice
500 ml full-cream milk
1 green cardamom pod crushed
a few strands of saffron
50 gms granulated sugar
1 tbsp flaked almonds
50 gm mango puree
50 gm mango, cut into small pieces
Gold leaf and slivers of shelled pistachios, and blanched almonds to garnish (optional)

Put the rice in a bowl, pour over 50 ml warm water and leave to soak for 2 hrs. Pour into a blender and process to a paste.

Put the milk in a pan and bring to the boil. In another bowl take 2 tbsps of hot milk and add the saffron strands till they release their colour.Add it to the simmering milk,add the cardamom, reduce the heat and simmer for five minutes. Add the rice paste and simmer for fifteen minutes, stirring constantly.The mixture will start thickening.

Stir in the sugar, and simmer for ten minutes. Pour into a bowl and leave to cool.Stir in the mango puree & diced mango.

Pour these into (if u can get your hands on some) earthen pots.Traditionally they are served in these as the mud pots impart a beautiful earthy flavour to the pudding. Chill in the refrigerator till they set.Garnish with gold leaf, almonds and pistachios.Serve chilled.Makes 3 servings.

Bowled In !

All, Non-Vegetarian 6 Responses »

Mar 152007

The ICC Cricket World Cup has begun and its really got us all hooked onto our screens.Group matches have commenced and so has our betting.Sadly i lost 50 bucks yesterday on Pakistan vs West Indies but i hope to recover today on Zimbabwe vs Ireland.Really looking forward to 6 weeks of pure cricket pleasure.I’m glad that I’m in Africa now as the timings are perfect.Once i get back to HK we’ll have to stay up all night to see the matches.But it doesn’t really matter.Once in 4 yrs is a good enough excuse for that.We are supporting South Africa for the world cup champions as they are in excellent form.So keeping my fingers crossed….will definitely keep u all updated with the World Cup.Yesterday we had really simple lunch …the Lahme, and so i thought i’d indulge a bit today.Actually i thought of it last night and marinated the chicken beforehand.And that’s half the work done.At noon i simply grilled the chicken and made some lovely aromatic lemon rice.This for me ladies and gents is comfort food.Enjoy.

Ingredients for chicken marination (overnight)

700 gms chicken
3-4 tbsps sour yogurt
1 tbsp crushed ginger
1 tbsp crushed garlic
3-4 green chillis chopped
hand full of mint
1 tsp garam masala
1 tbsp freshly toasted and ground cumin powder
salt

Rub all these into the chicken and cover and refrigerate overnight.

Ingredients for Lemon Rice

1 cup basmati rice
1 onion chopped
1 green chilli chopped
1 tsp mustard seeds
few Indian curry leaves
1 tsp turmeric powder
2-3 tbsps chopped corriander
1 lime
salt to taste
1 tbsp oil

In a pot heat the oil.When smoking hot add the mustard seeds and as they splutter add the curry leaves, onion and green chilli.When they soften a bit add in the washed rice and fry it on high flame for 1 min.Add the turmeric powder and salt and stir.Now add 1 and 1/2 cups water and cover and let it simmer on slow heat.When the rice is done add the corriander and squeeze the lime juice into it.The rice is ready.

Remove the chicken from the fridge 1 hr prior to cooking it to bring it to room temperature.Now from the prepared rice take about 2-3 tbsps and fill it in the cavity of the chicken and then tie up the chicken and drizzle some olive oil on top and grill in the oven for about 45 minutes.Remove and wrap in foil and allow it to rest for about 15 mins.To serve, cut open the thread and serve the chicken on the bed of the remaining rice.Onion rings go really well with this dish.

Green Tea Risotto with Pan Fried Cassava

All, Non-Vegetarian 6 Responses »

Feb 282007

Was sipping on some green tea and thinking of trying a healthier version of risotto when it suddenly hit me.Green tea risotto ! No butter, no cheese, no cream, green tea instead – Cant get healthier.Must confess was a little skeptical though, hoping the tea would not be too bitter and over power the taste (as i was sure D would not like green tea in his risotto)but to my surprise it turned out amazing. It added a very subtle aromatic flavour to the rice n my hubby kept saying its very tasty and when i revealed the secret ingredient to him he was quite amazed.As he never drinks green tea and kinda freaks out at the copious amounts i consume i didn’t want to tell him before hand, scared that he might refuse to eat it.It did pay to keep my mouth shut as he adored it and said i shud put it up on the blog(as if i already wasn’t going to ). Haha but I’m glad it turned out nice and would encourage u all to try it out.

Its pretty simple actually – most of the food i make is )). I started with sauteing a clove of crushed garlic and sliced leeks(2) in olive oil, some sliced onions too.As they softened i put in the Aborio rice, stir fried it a bit and added a tablespoon of chicken bullion powder, as i wanted a good base.The rest you know…instead of stock i used green tea.No alcohol splashes as i just didn’t feel like it.

And then when the risotto is almost cooked, taste for salt and put some freshly crushed pepper.

For the Cassava, i marinated it in a spice mix comprising of :-sea salt, corriander seeds(crushed), yellow mustard powder, garlic powder, black pepper, fenugreek seeds crushed, crushed red chillies, oregano, marjoram, paprika.Then drizzled it with olive oil and pan fried it.

Put it all together and squeeze a few drops of lime.The lime really goes well with it as it livens up the flavours bringing freshness to it.

2 Swords

All, Non-Vegetarian 3 Responses »

Feb 232007

Was just reading this interesting article on Lucullian delights – “Do we need editors?” where it is discussed that do bloggers need editors to write well?Cuz if u might’ve noticed that we have beautiful blogs out there with wonderful pictures and recipes and above all the perfect text.Suddenly everyone is writing well and “proper” without any mistakes.Rather professional looking matter just like you would read in a magazine or cook book.Aren’t blogs supposed to be a media to express yourself and not having to worry about hiring blog designers or using editors…isn’t it supposed to just be something u did from your heart as it flowed out without tweaking and editing it.Just like cooking is…from the heart.I would love to read blogs with a more informal touch to it where people are using slang, writing stuff that may matter to them, and just being themselves.That would make reading more fun.Like peaking into someones personal diary ….well so everyone here too is free to leave a comment and share with me how u feel on this issue…while i do a little ‘show and tell’ about what i had for lunch today.

For a change today i’m not posting anything sweet, but just something i had for lunch.

“Steamed swordfish oriental style with fresh salad rice.”

Step1: Try and get your hands on some banana leaves…very very imp.I took an easier option though…i spotted some plantain(almost bananas) trees in my neighbours house and decided to use that instead.So make sure if u have that option that u ask

them first and i dont see why anyone shud mind that but if they do then just wait till he/she steps out and then very quietly just jump over a steal a couple of them.Make sure they have no dogs or i would suggest then that u either go buy some or use baking paper instead.But thats no fun.So having got your hands on some leaves,wash them-well,and then trim off the fat stem at the back of the leaf so that u can manage it better and fold it..or else the leaf will snap and tear.

(neighbour’s plantain tree)

Step 2 :Run the leaf over a gas flame at a distance.what this does is softens the leaf a bit releasing its oils and all the flavours.Also making it very managable and easy to fold.Saw this on Jamie Oliver’s naked chef a couple of yrs ago and been doing it ever since.

Step 3 : Marinate the fish(i’ve taken swordfish)any fish of ur choice…grouper goes really well with this as well so does fresh tuna or cassava..in light soya sauce, grated ginger, chopped green chilli,sesame oil,pinch of salt.Place this in the centre of the banana leaf a

nd place some spring onion greens and corriander on top.Now fold the leaves making a neat parcel and tie up well.

Step 4 lace in a bamboo steamer and steam for about 10 mins.

For the rice just steam it and once its ready mix in some chopped corriander, spring onion greens,salad leaves chopped ,and salt.This adds freshness to the rice and goes wonderfully with the fish.

Could’ve made this with lemon grass and coconut milk with garlic and red chillis with a dash of fish sauce and corriander and that would be a Thai version of the same thing.But my hubby is not a big fan of coconut so we opted for the Chinese version.The steaming makes the fish release its own juices and so there was sufficient sauce to go with the rice.

P.S. – note i forgot to put a piece of fresh corriander for the garnish to make a pretty picture as i didn’t have the patience and wanted to dig my chopsticks in and eat it before it got cold.Hope u don’t mind.Why the header 2 SWORDS …..cuz i used 2 pieces of swordfish …duh..!