September 24

The other week I had got a bunch of small red apples. I'm not much of a fruit lover ( I know I am weird) but I just got them because they were so cute! And I thought that maybe if I get smaller apples I might just be able to coax myself into having them. And obviously they are good for health right? 

So yes I did coax myself into having a couple of them, I am doing healthy stuffs now a days so it was somewhat easy to motivate myself. But then after a while my foodie brain started to think in a disrupted manner. Why to eat apples as just apples? I mean while they are good as apples, why not use them to make something different. That's what Instagram does to you, you see. Till the time you limit yourself to cooking shows, MasterChef episodes and Facebook food groups, you are exposed to comparatively less ideas of thinking out of the box. But once you come on Instagram, there is just disruption in every food preparation you have had in your entire lifetime.

Once you step into the realm of Instagram you feel like everyone out there is a MasterChef and you are the only horrible cook left in this big bad lonely world. At least I felt it that way, I was too embarrassed to put up the simple macher jhol pictures or the beans ki subzi which tastes heavenly but not much of a looker. There was absolutely no drama in the preparation or the dish that I plated it in. I mean who would even care for your jhinger macher jhol ( fish curry with ridge gourd) with some soggy jhinge swimming around the fried fish, when they can see a gourmet fish steak lying on a bed of aromatic rice and some green ridge gourd on the side strategically placed to give the feel but not to crowd the dish? I definitely liked the gourmet version, not sure about you folks.

Thus I learnt in a few months, if you cook something which you could not shape properly simply call it deconstructed xyz and further distort the shape and present it with nice garnish. If you want to shock people just combine 3-4 elements which never on earth you would have imagined to go together. Or if you have things wilting in your pantry just make a dip or chutney out of it and present it in a nice set of crockery with all the bells and whistles. Sounds simple right? 

The truth is farther from it. Instagram is where we bring to life the concept of eating first with our eyes. And to do that the kind of efforts that goes into the background is tremendous. Each of these people meticulously plan the entire production of a dish they are going to capture in the frame much ahead of time. There is a lot of money and time invested in making each picture come to life. Food photography is expensive. And only through trials and error you will know of tips and tricks which can save you a few bucks. But still it is expensive. At the minimum you need to invest in a good camera, some decent backgrounds and of course good crockery. And after that you will still be in the beginners stage as per the Instagram standards. 

Thus when you are just starting a food page on Instagram you might feel a whole lot overwhelmed by the contents you see around you or the growing number of followers in others profile might give you sleepless nights or put your mind on a self induced pressure zone, but my suggestion is don't fret. I mean what was the point of joining Instagram in the first place? For me it was like a live journal wherein I wanted to document my food journey, interact with like minded folks, know more about food and photography and the most important enjoy the experience at my own pace. I wanted to look back in time at my feed and feel good that I created so many things which I never thought of making earlier. I will look back in time and feel this year I have cherished the fact that I could give so much time to one of my favorite hobbies - cooking.  That will be a true accomplishment rather than chasing after numbers like crazy. I do not deny the fact that as your followers graph goes up you do feel a growing happiness but then if you have good content there will always be audience to appreciate it. Unless you want to monetize right away, you can go at a steady pace, trying to build meaningful content once every two days rather than a cartload of shitty images daily.

So just take a deep breath, cook things which make you happy and don't worry about the results. 

I wanted to make something nice and filling for lunch as well as use the apples. Egg pulao was on my mind but then I decided to make a Kashmiri dry fruits pulao and add egg to it (simply because I wanted to have egg :)). And when its a dry fruits pulao obviously apples are a right candidate to throw in as well. Believe me it tastes super duper awesome. So if you have some apples which are not that sweet and do not know what to do with them apart form halwa, this is a good option. You can also add more fruits like cranberries or pomegranate to make it more fruit loaded.

This Kashmiri Pulao recipe will tease your taste buds with sweet, spicy and tart flavors. The best part of this recipe is you can reuse left over rice also for making this amazingly flavorful and textured pulao. Its a one pot fragrant, fruity and nutty pulao which can be made quickly and enjoyed.

Preparation Time : 20 minutes

Ingredients :

• Basmati Rice / Any fragrant Rice - 50 gm
• Stock ( Vegetable/Chicken/Mutton) - 100 ml
• Ginger Paste - 1/2 tsp 
• Bay Leaf - 1
• Fennel Seeds (Bruised) - 1/2 tsp
• Cardamom (Bruised) - 2
• Cinnamon - 1/2 inch
• Green Chilli (Slitted)- 4 to 5 
• Sugar - 1 tsp
• Salt - As per taste
• Ghee - 2 tsp
• Refined Oil - 2 tsp

Garnish :

• Onion (for Beresta) - 1/2 sliced
• Red Apple (Diced) - 1/2
• Black raisins / Manaka / Normal Raisins - 1/2 cup
• Cashew Nut - 1/4 th cup
• Almonds - 5 to 6 
• Coconut Slice - 8-10
• Saffron Strands/ Orange Food Color - 1/2  tsp

Additional:

• Potato (Halved)- 1 medium 
• Boiled Egg - 1

Equipment:

• Heavy bottomed wok

Method:

1. Wash and soak the rice in water for about 30 minutes

2. While the rice is soaking we need to prep up for the rest of the elements. Boil the halved potatoes with skin on and the egg and keep aside. 

Note: This is an optional step. You can completely skip it

3. To make the beresta, slice the onion and then fry them to a crisp in the wok. Keep it aside. You can add a little sugar while frying to give a nice caramel color to the onions.

4. Halve the cashew, chop the almonds, and slice the coconut. Now heat the wok and add enough ghee to fry the dry fruits. On medium heat toss the dry fruits in batches and take care not to burn them. Fry till they are fragrant with a slight brown color. Once the nuts are fried, switch off the heat and toss the raisins in the remaining ghee for about 30 seconds. They will get fried in the heated oil itself. Keep these aside

Note: You can brown the coconut slices a little more than the nuts for a nice look.

5. Now shell the egg, make a few shallow slits along all sides. Toss it in a pinch of turmeric and salt and coat the egg well. In the same wok heat some ghee or refined oil and shallow fry the egg turning it on all sides till it gets a little crispy cover. Keep it aside. Now in the same oil fry teh boiled potatoes with their skin on. Fry till the potato gets a little brown on the eggs and the skin starts to turn little crispy. Take it off the flame and keep aside.

6. Now take the wok and heat 2 tsp of ghee. When its fragrant add the bruised cardamom, bay leaf, cinnamon and slitted green chillies. Toss it around for 30 seconds and add the ginger paste. Fry on medium heat till fragrant. 

7. Now drain the water from the rice and add the rice to the spices in the wok. Fry the rice till they start turning white. Keep giving gentle stir frequently to prevent it from sticking to the wok. Take care not to break the rice.

8. Now measure double the amount of stock or water to the amount of rice and add it to the wok. Add salt and sugar. Give it a gentle stir. Add the fried potatoes. Now cover the wok and let the rice cook on high for about a minute. 

Note: You can replace the stock with water. However stock would impart a better flavor.

9. When the rice is 3/4th cook, open the cover and now put the flame on sim/low. Put a tawa underneath the wok before you start assembling everything. Now add the fried egg on top of the rice. Add some slitted green chillies for added flavor. Sprinkle the raisins and beresta all over the rice. At a few points add the saffron color water/ orange food coloring. Now cover the wok and make sure any openings are closed to arrest the steam within the wok. We now need to cook rest of the rice on dum for about 10 minutes or till it is completely cooked.

Note: Do not mix the orange colour with entire rice. We want to gain a dual tone effect.

10. After 10 minutes or when the rice is done. Open the cover and let the rice sit in the wok till the excess moisture is absorbed. Now you can serve the rice on a plate and sprinkle it with all the fried nuts and coconut pieces.

Pro Tip: If you want to have a lovely crunchy feel to the nuts always add nuts while serving and not while putting the rice on dum which makes the fried nuts soft.

11. The final step is to dice the apple, toss it in some lemon juice and then add it to the rice. This will keep the apples crunchy and color intact. however if you want the apples to be soft, add it to the rice when you are putting it on dum.

Serve it as it is, or with a choice of raita and salads.

September 24 

Today I am going to talk about a very easy preparation. Its actually a ridiculously easy preparation which you can prepare in 5 minutes flat. In its basic form Pickled onions is nothing but Onions soaked overnight in a brine of vinegar, salt and sugar. But the one that I am going to talk about is spiced with a few elements to jazz up the flavors. The desi name for this is Sirke wala peyaz. Sirka is nothing but Vinegar.

We didn't really grow up seeing a restaurant culture during our childhood. Food meant only home cooked preparations. If we wanted to have something special, we would request our moms to make it for us. And specials were reserved for special days - weekends, birthdays, anniversaries, guests at home or the festive season. Hence each special had a very valuable place in our heart. Like the mutton curries which were only made on Sundays were traditionally called as Robibarer Mangshor Jhol or the Sunday Mutton Curry. Or the Rice kheer which was specially cooked on someone's birthdays. Or the seasonal specials like Ilish Macher jhol ( Hilsa fish curry). Each of these dishes has a box full of precious memories attached to them and will be the fodder for the stories which we will be telling our next generation. 

I grew up in IIT Kharagpur campus as dad was a professor there. During those days, like 20 years ago, the campus had only one shady food joint called 'Tikkas' outside the Institute premise where they served everything from breakfast to dinner. It was like the hangout mecca for both the Institute students, professors as well as kids of the faculty families. That was one place where there was no stature difference. The person sitting next to you in the table might be a day laborer and yet we didn't mind sharing the space with them. That place just had a different charm altogether in the non-restaurant era. So many innovations might have happened sitting on those rickety benches over cups of thick ginger tea and medu vada. So many love stories might have blossomed under the tin roof of the joint while waiting for the rain to subside during monsoons. And so many heated political discussions might have originated while munching on the piping hot samosas with the tangy imli chutney. We were happy with that. And we never felt that we needed some upscale, air conditioned space to elevate our moods for having a meal.

It was only during the college days that I was formally introduced to the concept of a proper restaurant. And that's when I first saw these tiny onions swimming in a pool of vinegar being served at the table and called 'sirke wala peyaz'. The first thought was, what have they done to the good old onions which I could have as salads. And then slowly I realised that this was a curated accompaniment quite common across all restaurants in the country. It took time for me to grow a liking for them. But gradually I did start liking them with a few homemade customizations. 

The best thing I like about these pickled onions over the desi version is they are easy to eat and more flavorful. Since you cut the onions in slices and place it in the brine, all the parts of the onion are fully exposed to the brining process unlike the desi version wherein mainly the outer layer of the tiny onions are pickled better than the internal ones. 

These things are very versatile. You can add pickled onions to pretty much anything and it will enhance the taste . They add a perfect, tart crunch to your rice bowls, burgers, subs, sandwiches,  salads, nachos, tacos, bhel and really anything else you can think to add them to. They taste best when you give them a day to rest and soak up the brine. Also it is very easy to preserve, just put it in a closed jar and in to the refrigerator and it will be good for more than a week.