Soups : Broccoli with Cream Cheese

With the temperatures dipping further down,the only thing comforting is a hot bowl of soup. A recently purchased book on Soups coaxed me to try some new soup recipes. The Broccoli and Cream Cheese soup proved to be a good choice to start as it ranked high on our health and taste quotient.

Ive followed most of the recipe from the book. Only alterations made was i increased the amount of rice and decreased the cheese added.

Ingredients:
14 oz broccoli ( from 1 large head)
2tsp butter
1tsp oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1 leek, thinly sliced
1 small carrot, finely chopped
5 tsbp of rice ( recipe said 3)
5 cups of water ( adjust according to desired thickeness)
1 bay leaf
2 tbsp heavy cream
1 oz cream cheese ( recipe said 3)
freshly grated nutmeg
salt and pepper
croutons to serve


Method:
Divide the broccoli into small florets and cut off the stems. Peel the large stems and chop all the stems into small pieces.
Heat the butter and oil . Add onions, leeks and carrot. Saute for abt 5 mins.
Add broccoli stems, rice, water, bay leaf and pinch of salt. Bring to boil and then simmer covered for abt 15 mins. Then add broccoli florets and continue cooking covered for another 15-20 mins till rice and vegetables are tender. Remove bay leaf.
Stir in the cream and soft cheese. Season soup with nutmeg, pepper and check for salt. Simmer for few more mins.
ladle into warm bowls and serve with croutons.

We had this soup with a russian salad made by my Armenian friend. The bright maroon salad with beans, potatoes, onions, beets and pickles was a perfect compliment for my creamy broccoli soup. The rice added made the soup very hearty.

Conquering Demons: Goan Crab Masala

Finally a demon conquered. There are certain things in life that we fear or avoid for no apparent reason. But overcoming it gives a new joy of victory. Cooking crabs was one such demon. I always thought it was too complicated to cook crabs so never even thought of trying it. Until my hubby, whose normally a meat eater, wished to have homemade crabs. So off we went to the Chinese Supermarket. Having no prior experience of shopping for crabs, we just picked the ones which looked similar to Indian crabs.

At my parents home, live fresh crabs were always delivered to our door. It was like the excitement of having a new pet, even though that may just last for a few minutes till they are cooked and find their way to our bellies. The live crabs would be kept in a tub till my dad was ready to clean them. There were times when a crab or two managed an escape till the living room or worse till the bedroom until they were discovered. I would be jumping and calling out to my father as i traced their paths around the house. My brother would enjoy the drama safely sitting on top of the dining table. I watched in amazement with the dexterity with which my father would place his big toe on the crab's back, hold both their claws in each hands and pull them back to break them. After this they were reliably harmless. Then he would chop them into pieces for my mother to cook. It was fun to watch then but now i could never do it myself. Thankfully the cleaners at the fish store spared me the guilt. They chopped and cleaned and packed the crabs for me.

The recipe is from my mom and is in true Goan style.

Ingredients:
6 crabs, cleaned and chopped into 2
1 onion chopped
1 potato chopped into big pieces
Salt
4-5 kokum pieces

For masala
2 tsp oil
4 cloves
4 peppercorns
1 inch piece cinnamon
4-5 garlic cloves
1 onion, sliced
1 cup grated coconut
1/2 tsp turmeric pdr
1 heaped tsp bedekar's sunday masala or any garam masala ( if using other garam masala, add 1/2 tsp of chili pdr, bedekar masala has chilli's included)

To begin, wash the crab pieces well.
In a big pot, put crabs, chopped onions and potatoes. Add little salt and water to cover and cook till crabs are done. Crabs would generally turn pinkish orange once done and of course the amazing aroma .
In another pan, put 1 tsp of oil. Add cloves, peppercorns, cinnamon and garlic and roast. Once they give aroma and garlic has changed colour, remove from pan and keep aside.
Then in another tsp of oil saute the sliced onions till brown. Remove
Roast the coconut till light brown.
Combine all these with turmeric pdr and garam masala and grind into thick paste.
Once the crabs are cooked, add the ground masala. Once it comes to a boil, add the kokum pieces Check for salt and spices.
Serve with white rice and salad.

I savoured the crabs with double the pleasure. Nostalgia and victory.

Simplest Mutton Biryani

Cooking Biryani at home has always been known to be painstaking process with long elaborate ingredient list, too many complicated procedures. And yet the taste was never guaranteed to be restaurant type. Ive had many frustrating trials. Until i got this recipe. Its the easiest, fastest and equally tasty recipe as vouched for by all the people who tried it out.

Ingredient list: ( it make look like a long list but its usual pantry staples)
2 pound mutton, chopped to desired size pieces
2 cups Basmati rice
a pinch of Saffron strand
1tsp milk
1 big potato, chopped
1 tbsp Shan Biryani masala
2 tsp ghee
1 inch cinamon stick
4-5 cloves
4-5 peppercorns
4-5 cardomons
2 bayleafs
2tsp oil
1 cup water

For marination:
1 large onion,chopped
1 large tomato, chopped
3-4 garlic cloves
1 1inch piece ginger
4-5 green chillies
1/2tsp turmeric pdr
1/2 tsp red chilli pdr
1/2 tsp cumin pdr
1/2 tsp coriander pdr
2 tsp mustard oil
salt
sugar


Method:
Grind together onions, ginger, garlic and green chillies. Marinate the mutton with this mix and all ingredients in the marinate list. Keep for atleast 1/2 an hr but the longer it stays, the better. Wash and soak the basmati rice also.
In a pressure cooker, add the oil. Once hot, add the cloves, cinamom, cardamom, peppercorns and bayleaves. Saute till they are fragrant. Then add the marianated mixture and saute. Add 1cup water and put the lid on. Make sure there's enough water to blow whistles. Add more if required but dont make it too gravy as the mutton will also release water. Cook till 7 whistles. Simultaneously in another saucepan cook the rice till 3/4 th done.
After 7 whistles, open the cooker, you can check if the mutton is cooked and taste the gravy to make any adjustments. Add chopped potatoes now and cover the pressure cooker again for 3 more whistles. Wait till the steam has exited then open the cooker.
In a small bowl, immerse the saffron starnds in milk and warm it up. you can crush the strands to relase color and fragrance.
Take a large vessel to asseble the biryani. Add some ghee at the bottom to grease the pan. Then add a layer of rice, followed by mutton, then again a layer of rice. Add some Shaan biryani masala pdr, some safron in milk, some ghee. Again add mutton and rice. Keep replicating layers to use up all rice and mutton. Covre the pan and cook on very low heat for 15-20 mins.

Once done you can also garnish with fried onions or dryfruits to make it extra special.
Dont forget to dig deep and serve, so that you can reach all the layers.

I had made it for my daughter's Birthday. It was very well recieved by everybody. Even those who generally find indian food too spicy. The white and saffron coloured rice complemented the masala in the mutton very well. This dish has earned a special place in our family for a long time to come.