Filipino Adobo Chicken

Another Sunday edition for "The 52 Cookbook Pact" hosted by Ruchina. I had blogged this delicious dish before at my other blog Foodieshope, so used the same picture here.

Filipino Adobo Chicken, from Philippines with my slight changes to simplify as always!

Dark and delicious Chicken bites marinated in soy sauce, lime juice, Apple Cider vinegar, garlic, onions, and bay leaf, and simmered with little brown sugar, with a dash with Sambal Olek or pepper, Adobo from Philippines is surprisingly delectable dish.
Usually Adobo sauce is associated with Spanish Chipotle in sauce and spices which also makes delicious marinated chicken called adobado and this Filipino Adobo dish, I am sure, is influenced by Spanish Adobo but used lot less spices and a bit different than the Spanish one. Either way, juicy Adobo Chicken makes one delicious lunch!

Here is how I made it:
1. Cube 2-3 Chicken breasts into bite sized pieces,place in a bowl. Now add juice of 1/2 a lime, 1 tsp Garlic powder or 2-4 fresh Garlic minced, 1/4 cup light and low sodium soy sauce or dark Soy if you like dark color,1 tbsp dried Onion flakes or 4 tbsp minced onion, 2 tsp brown sugar or dark molasses, 1-2 tbsp Apple cider vinegar, 1/2 tsp Chinese Five spice (my addition), mix everything in a big Ziplock bag, zip up and marinate overnight in the fridge or if you are short of time, keep it for few hrs, 4-5 hrs to develop the flavor.

2. Next day or few hours later, heat 2 tsp butter in a wide non-stick pan, add 1 bay leaf. Pour in the marinated chicken with all the liquid, 1 tsp more dark Soy sauce if you have added light Soy before and pepper or Sambal Olek (my fave red hot chilli sauce) or sweet and hot chilli sauce. Do not add salt until dish is done and unless you need it since Soy sauce has salt in it already.

3. Stir-fry on medium heat until it cooks down and the sauce is thick, shiny and clings to the chicken and chicken is cooked.Taste for salt and sugar, add only if needed. Serve garnished with Green onions and/or sliced green chillies on a bed of white or brown rice.
Cookbook:
Recipe is from "The Adobo Road Cookbook" by Marvin Gapultos with my changes.
Note:
Adjust the spices and sauces as per your taste, some like it tangy or sweet or spicy. Up to you to add or not add certain ingredients. It may not make this dish very "authentic" if we change the exact recipe like I did here slightly but believe me, it's a delightful dish anyway, so make it and enjoy!

Shrimp Dynamite, my style!

Here is my contribution to "The 52 cookbook pact". I hope I can keep up every Sunday with a recipe but will try my best. Thanks for hosting Ruchina :)

Shrimp Dynamite:
a copycat recipe of P.F.Chang's delicious appetizer, my style! My favorite dish to order whenever we visit there but I simplified the recipe to make it easy and quick for a lunch served on a bed of salad or as I did here, just on Romaine lettuce. Perfectly spicy mini satisfying lunch. Enjoy!

1. 12 oz medium sized Shrimp, frozen, pre-cleaned. Thaw, blot excess moisture.
2. Mix 2 tbsp Corn starch, 1 egg, 2tbsp Panko bread crumbs, salt and pepper, add in Shrimps, coat well.
3. Heat about an inch of oil, spread out Shrimps, cook both sides until crisp, keep them on a paper towel.
4. Beat 1/4 cup Mayonnaise, 1/2 tsp garlic pd, 1/2 tbsp Sriracha sauce or more, 1 tsp Sesame oil, 1 tbsp sour cream or 1 tsp Rice Vinegar. Add crisp Shrimp, mix well.
5. Serve on a Romaine Lettuce or side salad, garnish with cilantro, Spring Onions, chilli flakes or more Sriracha for extra burn!
Note:
Adjust the ingredients as you like the dish to be to your taste, mild or spicy, any kind of oil of your choice, fresh or frozen Shrimp you want to use, all up to you. No hard and fast rules, basic sauce is usually deliciously spicy and creamy with Sriracha sauce and Mayonnaise.
Cookbook:
Recipe is from one of the copycat cookbooks "Top Secret Recipes" by Todd Wilbur, where he tries to recreates our favorite restaurant dishes, my favorite is his copycat recipe for KFC Coleslaw! Of course, I always change the recipe slightly to suit my taste and to make it easier. Hope you enjoy.

Samosa Chaat, Baby Butter Beans-Potato-Cilantro Kurma, Menasina Saaru/Pepper Soup

I am on blog break, see you all as soon as I can! :)

Samosa Chaat, goes to Pallavi's "Sunday Snacks-Chaats/Indian street food" event.

Baby Butter Beans-Potato-Cilantro Kurma, goes to Cilantro's "JFI-Cilantro", an event started by Indira.

Samosa Chaat and Menasina Saaru, both go to Mahimaa's "15 minute cooking". If you have store bought Samosas and sauces already, it takes literally 10mins to whip up this delicious Chaat and Soup is the easiest to make as well.

Menasina Saaru/Pepper soup, goes to Trupti's "Comfort Food for illness" event.

Thanks to all of you, enjoy! :)

Samosa Chaat:
Who doesn't love to eat Samosas dipped in sweet and spicy chutney? Why not make the yummy Samosas into yummier Chaat? I know most of you have tried this Samosa chaat and posted it too. I had some leftover Aloo masala, so I thought of making quick Samosas and turn this into Chaat. Loved it. Since I had visited Indian store last weekend, I had all the goodies needed like Farsan/sev, bottled sweet and hot chutney, Chaat masala packet etc to go with it.
I make Samosas with Tortillas or Egg roll wrappers, sometimes I make the traditional samosa dough with atta. I have linked few sites for you to watch how to make or fold Samosas and chutney recipes to save me some time from typing those too! ;D

To make Samosa: (or use store bought Samosas and sauces for quicker Chaat!)
Take 3 large cooked Potatoes, mash it well. Add salt, chilli pd, 1 tbsp coriander pd, 2 tsp cumin seeds pd, 2 tbsp minced onion, 2 tsp grated ginger, 1 tsp garam Masala, 2 tsp Lemon juice, mix well and keep aside. Watch this video to see how to make Samosas.
Take atta dough (wheat flour, salt and 2 tbsp oil, knead with water to a firm dough) (I used Egg or Spring roll wrapper), roll out and cut into half moon shape, make a cone and stuff few tbsps of Potato masala, cover and secure the edges with plain flour+water paste to seal the Samosas. Deep fry these until golden and drain them on paper towel.
To make Chaat with Samosas:
You need to chop 1 large tomato, 1 sweet Onion, 4 tbsp Cilantro, 1/4 cup each of Sweet Tamarind chutney and hot green chutney and Plain Yogurt, some Chaat masala and Sev (thin chickpea flour fried snacks) and keep them ready.
To serve:
Break 1 or 2(if they are small size) Samosas into may be 4 to 5 big pieces and place them on a plate. Sprinkle some Tomato pieces, Onion pieces, as much green chutney and sweet chutney and yogurt as you want, some chopped Cilantro, 1/2 tsp Chaat masala and finally some thin Sev on top of the Samosas.
Serve immediately. I could eat 2 plates of those in one go! ;D

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Baby Lima or Butter beans,potato and Cilantro Kurma:

You need:

2-3 cups of baby Lima or Butter beans, (I used frozen pack), 1 Potato, peeled and cubed, Salt, 1 tsp butter (optional, tastes great if you add it).
Seasoning:
1 tbsp oil, 1 small onion, minced.
To grind:
2 garlic, 1" ginger, 4 tbsp fresh or dry Coconut, 2 tsp Poppy seeds, 2 tbsp Yogurt, 3 cloves, 1" Cinnamon, 1/2 cup packed Cilantro leaves (don't use it's stem which has powerful flavor and aroma, bit too much for this dish), few curry leaves, 2 or more green chillies.

To make Kurma:
1. Thaw the beans and cook with cubed potatoes with half a cup of water in the microwave for about 7mins, set aside.
2. Grind the masala until smooth with very little water.
3. Heat oil in a non-stick pan, add and fry minced onion until soft. Add the ground masala and yogurt, saute until raw smell goes and it leaves the side of the pan.
4. Now, add the cooked beans and potato, mix well. Simmer for 3 mins.

Add a dab of butter if you like, mix and serve with Parathas. Tastes better the next day!
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My grandma's comforting cold remedy, Menasina Saaru/Pepper soup!

Trupti is not feeling well, suffering from flu and cold. So she is asked us to send her few comfort food to her which we can cook quickly and helps to feel us better. I don't know or make many home remedies like my grand mother makes at her home but this Menasina saaru seems to be the only one I like to make when I have cold, love it. Freshly crushed pepper seems to open your blocked sinuses quicker than (although temporarily) any Vicks Vaporub!:D

Another remedial drink I vaguely remember that she used to make is ginger and honey juice for Stomach ache or for something like that, I am not sure. I had seen my grandfather drinking it often whenever we visit them during Summer holidays. Anyway, here is my fave dadima's Nushka, Karnataka style! ;D

You need these to make the soup:
1. Heat 1 tsp oil and 1 tsp ghee in a deep pan. Add 2-4 garlic finely chopped and few curry leaves to it.
2. Crush 1 tsp Cumin seeds and 2 tsp Pepper corns coarsely and add to this oil. Let them all sizzle gently. Don't let the garlic burn but very slightly golden on the edges.
3. Mix 1 1/2 tsp (or more if you want it very tangy) Tamarind paste (I use Laxmi brand natural Tamarind concentrate which has nice reddish color which I love than darker Tam paste and paste easy to use too) in 2-3 cups of water well.
4. Add this to the pan with salt, bring it to rolling boil for 2 mins or until the raw smell of Tamarind goes and soup smell good. Adjust the salt and add more crushed pepper if you want.
5. Drink this when you have cold, you feel the relief immediately to make you feel better although it doesn't cure your cold. Tastes great with rice too or just as a warm drink on a cold day.
You can add some cilantro to it too, always optional. That's it for this week.

Feel better soon Trupti, hugs to you.

We had a wonderful weekend, very hot weather. Have a great Summer, see you all later in the Fall! :)

Batata Vada/Alu Bonda, Tomato and mixed Vegetable Avarekalu Uppittu/Upma

Batata vada, goes to Harini's "Recipes for rest of us-Starters" event which is started by Ramki.

Mixed vegetable and Tomato Uppittu, goes to Sahaja's "Single serving Recipes" event.

Thanks ladies, enjoy! :)

Who doesn't like Batata Vada or Alugedde bonda as we call it in Kannada? Here is my quick version I made just for this event. No measurement required for the dishes we send to this event and it should be so easy that even a 10yr old can cook it as per this event's rules. Well... most 10yr old kids can make these I guess, although letting them deep fry without supervision is not recommended.

Want to make Batata Vadas sophisticated enough for grand cocktail party? Make large Marble sized vadas and stick a few colorful Toothpicks on each like finger foods to serve with Ketchup or thinner chutney as dip. You can do the same with mini Chana dal round vadas too. Enjoy! :)

Batata vada or Alu bonda with coconut chutney:

To make Aloo stuffing:

1. Boil 2 large Potatoes until soft, peel and mash. Heat a bit of oil, add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, chilli flakes, chopped curry and cilantro leaves.
2. Add Potatoes, salt, lemon juice and mix well. Cool and make about 2" balls and keep aside.
To make batter:
1. Mix 1 portion of Besan/Chickpea flour, few tbsps of rice flour, pinch of bakind soda, enough salt, chilli pd and water to make a thickish batter. Rest it for 10 mins.
To make Bondas:
1. Heat oil to 375F or hot to deep fry. Dip Potato balls in the batter and deep fry until golden.
2. Serve with spicy Chutney; Grind Coconut, green chillies, tamarind or yogurt, ginger, salt with enough water to make chutney. Temper with Mustard seeds. Voila!! :D

Mixed Vegetable and Lilva/Avarekalu Uppittu:
Well... Sahaja wanted a one dish meal and here is my simple yet nutritious one dish Uppittu/Upma I make when I am in a hurry or don't have any left overs to eat. Usually I throw in a frozen mixed vegetable pack here to make veg Uppittu. I love Avarekalu/Lilva/Field beans in Uppittu but fresh beans is not always available to me, so I soak dry ones and cook them to add to dishes or use frozen Lilva. For tanginess, I add Lemon juice at the end or one fresh sliced Tomato.

To make Mixed veg Uppittu:
1. Heat 1 tsp ghee in a non-stick pan. Add 1 cup Semolina/Rava and roast until Rava is golden on a medium heat and spread it on paper to cool.
2. Add 2 tbsp oil to the same pan, add 1/2 Mustard seeds, 1 tsp Cumin seeds, few curry leaves, (Cashews are optional), 2 tsp each Chana dal and Urad dal, 1 onion, finely chopped, 2-3 green chillies and fry them until soft.
3. Add 2 1/2 cups of water, enough salt, few cilantro. Add 1 cup of pre cooked (Microwave them with little water) mixed veggies like Beans, Carrots, peas, Lilva beans, one Tomato sliced. Let it boil for 5 mins.
4. Taste for salt and turn down the heat to simmer. Slowly add Rava in a stream and stir all the while to prevent clumping. Stri well, cover and let it simmer for 4-5 mins.
5. It's ready to eat. serve with crunchy Sev, Boondi and plain yogurt.

Tomato,Peas and Carrot Uppittu:
Tomato, Peas and Carrot Uppittu is another of my favorite combo to add to make Uppittu. I chop baby Carrots in to rounds. They are very sweet, adds a sweetish flavor to spicy Uppittu and for to balance the hot and sweet, I add some Tomatoes or Tomato sauce to this. Adding 1 tsp of MTR Vangibhath powder or Rasam powder to this adds a excellent flavor as well.
Photo didn't come well for this Uppittu, bear with me. I have too many huge windows in every room, bright and sunny rooms don't help me in photographing anything properly these days.

To make Tomato Uppittu:
1. Follow the same method as above until step 2 and add 2 1/2 cups of water, 1/2 cup frozen Green peas, 1/2 cup Tomato sauce or 2-3 Tomato chopped, 2 Carrots chopped or coarsely grated, 1 tsp spice powder of your choice (optional), let it boil.
2. Follow the rest of the method like the above recipe and you will have fragrant, colorful and tasty Uppittu!

Have a great week, see you all later! :)

Clicking Wooden Rice Mould/Mold, Roasted veg and Artichoke Pasta, Mac and Cheese Casserole with Italian sausage.

My Japanese wooden Rice Mold, goes to Jugalbadi's ever popular visual candy event "CLICK-WOOD".

Pasta with roasted Bell pepper, Artichoke hearts and Tomato, goes to Soma of "ecurry" who is guest hosting "Hay Hay, it's Donna's day #26" event. Roma has chosen Donna Hay's this recipe for us to try. This event's original host is Bron Marshall.

Mac and cheese with Italian sausage, goes to Srivalli of "Cooking for 4 all seasons", who is guest hosting "Monthly Mingle" this month with "Kids lunches" as a theme and Meeta started this MM event. Thanks to all hosts, enjoy! :)

Macaroni and cheese with Italian sausage casserole, also goes to Aquadaze of "Served with love", who is guest hosting this month's "Presto Pasta Nights #106", an event started by Ruth of "Once upon a feast".

Japanese Rice mould/mold:
Any kind of "mould" in India is called "Mold" here in USA, just like "colour" and "color" etc, just a little clarification about the spelling! :D

This beautiful Japanese rice mold is specially designed to pour and serve the sauce in the center. Spoon the cooked rice into the mold, press gently to fill the gaps, place on a serving plate and tap gently to release the rice. Pour any sauce into the middle of the rice and serve. I had made Egg butter masala, placed an egg in the center of the mold.

Another "clear" look:

Sony Cyber-Shot: 8.1pxl, Macro mode.

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Chicken and Capsicum Pasta recipe is the choice of Soma's who is hosting "Hay Hay, it's Donna's day" from Donna Hay's blog. Although I followed the original recipe mostly, I had to make this with Artichoke Hearts with lots of fresh herbs from my herb pots since I made Butter chicken for kids few days ago and ran out of Chicken! So here is my chicken less version;

Artichoke Hearts and roasted Bell Peppers Farfalle Pasta!

Another look:

Here is how I made it:
1. Cooked Butterfly/Farfalle Pasta al-Dente, drained and added to a bowl.
2. Roasted green and red Bell peppers, few Tomato slices, drained canned Artichoke Hearts, cooled them for 10mins.
3. Mixed Pasta, roasted veggies, 1 tbsp Parmesan cheese, few slices of bottled Vinegary Jalapenos, 2 tbsp mixed fresh herbs like Basil, Oregano, Thyme and Parsley along with Donna's dressing and VOILA!!
Beautiful Pasta is ready to dig in. Enjoy! :)

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Everybody's favorite food, Macaroni and cheese with sweet Italian Sausage:
My kids always like to have Mac and cheese whenever my husband doesn't come home for dinner and I don't feel like cooking! Usually kids like to add add chopped up Hot dogs for a quick version, I had some Italian sausage this time to add to this Nac and Cheese. You can make plain Mac and cheese without adding anything or may be some veggies to make it healthier. I made a Casserole of Mac and cheese with crunchy Panko breadcrumbs on top!

Macaroni and Cheese with Italian sausage Casserole:

Here is how to make Mac and cheese Casserole:

Preheat the oven at 350F to bake this casserole for 30-40mins.

Pasta:
Boil water, add 2 cups of dry Elbow Macaroni with some salt and 1 tsp oil until almost done, drain and pour it in a casserole dish.
Sausage:
Cut up Hot dog if you using those or take out and crumble Italian sausage links out of it's skin and saute the sausage for a while in a pan until light brown and set aside to add this to the sauce later)
For cheese sauce:
1. Heat a non-stick pan, add 2tbsp olive oil or butter, add 2 tbsp plain flour, stir fry until slightly golden or until flour is cooked. Now pour in about 2 1/4 cups of milk, gently heat.
2. When sauce is hot, grate a Nutmeg to add few pinches, sausage and take the sauce off of the heat. Add 1 tsp yellow ground Mustard, 1 cup of grated Cheddar cheese and stir gently and quickly until cheese dissolves. Add some pepper and salt if needed. I added 1/4 tsp Worcestershire sauce, 1/2 tsp each of mixed spices and herbs.
3. Pour this sauce over the Macaroni, sprinkle some Parmesan and 1/4 cup seasoned Panko (or Italian) breadcrumbs on top and bake for 30 to 40mins until sauce is thickish.
Sauce thickens as the caserrole cools, so don't bake until Pasta and sauce is very dry. To get some color on the breadcrumbs, I broiled/grilled for 5 mins or just until crumbs get golden. DO NOT burn the crumbs!
You can Microwave this dish too to make it faster, bread crumbs will be whitish but it's quite tasty to eat anyway.

Enjoy, see you next time! :)

Vegetable Gratin, MW Savory Vegetable Pudding, Clicked!

Vegetable Gratin, topped with savory breadcrumbs, dripping with delicious Bechamel sauce and Parmesan cheese is my contribution to Bee of Jugalbandi's "CLICK-The photo event-Cheese/Tofu" event this month. Thanks Jugs!




Well..I am supposed to say something about the photo I am posting here for the event. All I can say is, Bee threatened me that she would break all North Carolina Panthers' legs so they can never play football (or win the Super Bowl) ever again if I didn't send her a photo for her event. So, a selfless self- sacrificing woman that I am, sending this photo to her event so I can save NC Panthers' many many many pairs of those strong handsome manly legs!!!
Sigh...the things I have to do for my people of NC!! Bee, you win!!! Please spare them their legs......!!!! Waaaah...!!!!

Vegetable Gratin:
Baked mixed vegetable Gratin, topped with Bechamel sauce, savory bread crumbs and sprinkled grated Parmesan cheese.

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Gratin with mixed vegetables and Bechamel sauce is my second dish for DK of "Culinary Bazaar"'s event "A.W.E.D.- France" this month. My first entry to her is savory "Pain Perdu", a French toast. Thank you DK, have fun in France!

Mixed vegetable Gratin:
"Gratin is a widely-used culinary technique of food preparation in which an ingredient is topped with a browned crust, often using bread crumbs and butter. Gratins are also frequently sprinkled with grated cheese. Gratin originated in French cuisine and is prepared using a casserole. A gratin is baked or broiled to form a golden crust on top and served in it's oval shaped baking dish.The etymology of gratin is from the French language in which the word "gratter" meaning to "to scrape" as of the "scrapings" of bread or cheese, and gratiné, from the transitive verb form of the word for crust. Gratin dish refers to the shallow oven-proof container used to prepare gratins." Info from WIKIPEDIA.

While making the savory Pudding (see below) for Sunday lunch, I saved half a bag of frozen veggies just to make this Gratin to show you here. Kids loved this dish more than the savory veg and bread pudding! :)

To make Gratin, you need:
1. I used 1/2 a bag frozen mixed veggies; Cauliflower, Broccoli, Water Chestnuts, Endamame, carrots etc. Put all these into a dish with a tsp of butter and pinch of salt and pepper, microwave for 10 mins until cooked or saute in butter until golden.
2. Add these veggies to a bakeable Gratin dish and keep aside.
3. Take about half a cup of garlic Croutons and coarsely powder it, keep aside.
4. Now, pour the prepared Bechamel sauce (recipe below) over the veggies, sprinkle bread crumbs to cover the sauce.
5. Bake at 350F for 15 to 20 mins, since veggies are already cooked, it doesn't take much time to bake or if you use a microwavable Gratin dish, you can microwave this in a jiffy too!
6. Lastly, as soon as you take out the dish out of the oven, sprinkle grated fresh Parmesan cheese on top. If you add cheese and bake in the oven, cheese might burn sometimes and tastes bitter, so I add it at the end. You can bake 5 mins more after you add the Parmesan cheese if you like.
To make Béchamel sauce:
Bechamel is basic white sauce and it becomes "Mornay" sauce if you add cheese to the sauce.

1. Heat 1 tbsp butter in a non-stick pan, add 1 tbsp plain flour, pinch of salt and pepper. Stir for a while or until slightly golden, turn down the heat and add 1 to 1 1/2 cups of half and half or milk, simmer. (Optionally, you add 2 tbsp of Parmesan cheese and whisk well).
2. Keep whisking to avoid the lumps. After few mins, Bechamel sauce thickens slightly. Then, grate 1/8 tsp of fresh Nutmeg pd over it, mix and take the pan off the heat. Pour it on the veggies when it cools a bit and bake the gratin.

Delicious Gratin is ready, it smells so good! :)

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"Cauliflower" is the choice for JFI, which is being hosted by Mythreyee of "Paajaka" blog, an event which is started by Indira of "Mahanandi" blog. My mixed vegetable including Cauliflower, savory Pudding goes to Mythreyee for her event.

Jayasree of "experiments in Kailas kitchen" blog is guest hosting "MEC-Microwaved Puddings" this month. MEC event is originally Srivalli of "cooking for all seasons" idea. I cooked this savory vegetable pudding in the microwave, so this is for you too, Jaya.
Thanks to all of you girls, enjoy! :))

Microwaved mixed vegetable including Cauliflower savory Pudding:
Puddings usually have egg and milk mixture poured into and baked with vegetables and bread pieces. Since both of event entries need to be strictly vegetarian, I have replaced eggs with cornstarch and baked in the microwave.
If eggs are okay with you, add 2-3 eggs to milk along with herbs to get fluffy, spongy pudding. I had baked a sweet Persimmon pudding few weeks ago, so I went for savory pudding this time, can't handle too much sweet again. Hope you like it! :))

Microwaved savory mixed vegetable and bread pudding:
"Pudding most often refers to a dessert, but can also be a savory dish. The word pudding probably comes from the French boudin, originally from the Latin botellus, meaning "small sausage," referring to encased meats used in Medieval European puddings. In the United Kingdom and in some countries, pudding is a common term for any dessert". Info from WIKIPEDIA.

To make the savory pudding: Click on the collage to see the ingredients.
I used 2 1/2 small bags frozen mixed vegetables including Cauliflower, Broccoli, Carrots, Celery, Endamame, Water chestnuts, peas etc.
10 oz pack of all natural chunky and savory garlic and herb Croutons. You can use bread slices too but ready herbed garlic croutons are better.
For the sauce: take 2-3 cups of milk, (enough to drown the bread and veggies!), 2 tsp Cornstarch, 1 tsp dry herbs, 1/2 tsp Garlic pd, 1/2 tsp onion powder, salt, red chilli flakes and pepper to taste. Mix all these well.
(If adding eggs which is used in making traditional pudding, add 2 eggs and beat this mixture)

To bake or microwave:
1. If you are baking this pudding in the oven, you can saute all the veggies in 1 tbsp butter until halfway cooked and golden.
Since I microwaved it, I added 1 tbsp butter to a dish with frozen vegetables, few pinches of salt, covered and microwaved it for 10-15mins on high or until veggies are fork tender.
2. Drain any water remaining, let the veggies cool a bit. Mix the sauce again and keep it ready.
3. In a microwaveable dish, add half of the Croutons on the bottom, spread all the veggies on top and cover with Croutons again.
4. Slowly pour the liquid sauce on the bread and veggies. Then press the top gently until Croutons are wet and soaked.
If you are baking this, bake at 350F for 30 mins or so, until crust is golden.
5. Now, put this dish in the Microwave, heat this on 100% power for 10 to 20 mins ot until you don't see liquid anymore on the bottom. Cornstarch and soaked bread makes the sauce thick and pudding is scoopbale once it's done.
Do not add too much milk which can overflow in the MW, pause the MW if you see the liquid come up and start again. Serve the pudding while it's warm with a salad.

Enjoy all the yummy vegetable dishes, see you all on Friday here again! :)

Panchratani Palak Dal, Raw Jackfruit and Chana Ghashi

My Panchratani Palak dal and raw Jackfruit-Chana Ghashi, both go to Susan of "the well seasoned cook" blog who is hosting a wonderful, protein packed event called "My Legume love affair-8th helping".

My raw Jackfruit-Chana Ghashi goes to Lakshmi G of Taste of Mysore" blog who is guest hosting "AFAM-Jackfruit" event this month, which is originally launched by Maheswari.

Thanks to all of you for hosting and taking time to organize these yummy round ups too! :))

Gravy with five gems and Popeye's favorite!! ;D
This protein packed dish comes from Punjab (Punj=five, aab=River), a state with five rivers flowing through it in India, which is well known for it's earthy cuisine, robust people and their generosity to guests. Panch in Hindi is five and Ratan means gems. In this case, it means a dish made of five different dals or legumes, which makes it a nutritional powerhouse. I have posted a Panchmel dal before at my Foodie's Hope blog, which is little different from this dish.
Palak is my addition to this traditional Punjabi dish, which is Spinach providing loads of iron to us. With aromatic ginger, garlic and spices, there is no better way to enjoy this dal with some Cumin flavored rice or with Bajri rotis or soft, layered Parathas!

Panchratani Palak Dal:

You need:
1/4 cup Tuar/Toor dal,

1/4 cup Chana dal,
1/4 cup Moong dal,
1/4 cup Masoor dal,
1/4 cup Urad dal.

or any five of your favorite dal, whole or split will do too! Just five dals remember, for "Panchratan"! You add one more dal to this dish and I will hunt you down! Hahaha!!

Need these too:
1 8 oz frozen Spinach or 2-4 cups of fresh Spinach, finely chopped,
1 tbsp oil,
1/2 large onion, finely chopped,
1 heaped tbsp of Coriander seeds powder,
1/4 tsp Turmeric,
1 large Tomato, chopped or 1/4 cup canned Tomato sauce,
2 tbsp sour cream or cream, beaten well,
enough salt and chilli pd to taste.

For the final seasoning to top the dal:
3 tbsp butter or ghee (to be authentic but can use less oil),
1 tsp regular cumin seeds or shah jeera if you have it,
1/2 onion, sliced finely,(fry until golden, then add ginger-garlic)
2" grated ginger,
2 garlic, minced,
1/2 tsp chilli powder or paprika, just for color.

To garnish:
4 tbsp Cilantro, finely chopped.

1 tsp good quality Garam Masala or homemade Punjabi Garam masala.

Five dals to use:
Click to see the larger photo with names on each dal. It's helpful for somebody who is a novice in Indian cooking and helps to visually see the five dals I have used.

To make the dal:

1. In a pressure cooker, heat the oil and add chopped onion and fry until soft. Add all the dals and saute for a minute. Add Tomato or Tomato sauce, stir for a while until thick.
2. Add turmeric, salt, coriander seeds powder and Chilli powder and add Spinach along with 3 cups of water.
3. Cover the lid and pressure for 1 or 2 whistles with weight on or until dal is cooked well. Open the lid when pressure is gone, stir to mix. Adjust spices, add beaten sour cream or cream to mix and simmer very gently for a while.
Gravy should be thick enough to scoop with a spoon but not too thin like soup or very thick or lumpy. Turn off the heat.
4. Finally, heat butter and add all the seasoning ingredients one by one in that order, fry until oil shows up on top. Do not burn any ingredient.
5. Add this to the dal and mix well. Garnish with Cilantro and garam masala. Mix again.

Dal tastes better the next day, excellent with rice or layered Parathas or Bajri roti.

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Raw Jackfruit(Halasina kayi) and Brown Chana Ghashi:
My mother always called this Ghasi rather than Ghashi, don't know why but I want to play safe here and call it Ghashi too as Konkanis call it, as this is originally a Konkan dish (coastal people of Karnataka and from few other states in India).
Here is my..err..my mom's version of Ghasi/Ghashi with canned raw Jackfruit (I know, I know! But hey, don't blame me! I live in US of A! Don't have any Jackfruit tree in my backyard here like my grandparents have in India! :D) and brown Chana, both my favorites. Enjoy! :))

You need:
2 cans of raw Jackfruit pieces,drained and cut into smaller pieces,
1 cup red/brown Chana, soaked overnight and pressure cooked until soft with 2-3 cups of water,
enough salt.
Masala to be ground: (roast these spices first, without oil)
1 tbsp Coriander seeds,
few peppercorns,
1/4 tsp Fenugreek seeds,
2-4 dry red chillies,
1 tsp Cumin seeds.
Grind the above spices with these with some water:
1/4 cup fresh coconut,
few curry leaves,
1/2 tsp thick paste of Tamarind,
1/4 tsp Turmeric.
until very smooth and keep aside.

For seasoning:
2 tbsp oil+ghee,
1/2 tsp mustard seeds,
few curry leaves,
1 small onion, chopped finely,
2-3 garlic, chopped, (optional but for a pakka Lingayat, it's a must! :P).

To make Ghashi:
1. Heat oil+ghee in a deep dish, add mustard, curry leaves and onion. When the onion is reddish, add garlic and stir for a minute.
2. Add cooked chana with it's water (don't make it too thin), and drained Jackfruit. Cook on medium heat for 6-10 mins. Canned Jackfruit is already soft, so it just have cook a little to make the raw taste go away. Adjust the salt.
3. After cooking for a while, turn down the heat to simmer, let the gravy cool a bit so when ground coconut is added, it doesn't split to make the gravy thin.
4. When it's cooler, add ground masala to this gravy, stir well to mix it all and let it simmer for 10 mons or so or until raw coconut smell goes and you see the it 's bubbling slowly.

That's it, beautiful tasting Ghasi/Ghashi is ready. As usual, it always tastes better the next day!

PS: What I do with the everyday gravy or Sambhar normally is after it's cooked completely on the stove top, I will let it cool down. Then, I will transfer the gravy to a microwaveable dish and reheat the gravy for 10 mins or more on high or 100% power. That makes the gravy thicker and the oil shows on top quicker than the stove top cooking for hrs and also I don't have to fear that ground masala with coconut or yogurt is going to split if it gets too hot. Somehow it works for me this way!

Have a great weekend! :))

Caribbean Chicken Fricassee and a Blackeyed peas Rice

My healthy and low fat Caribbean Chicken Fricassee goes to Meeta's "Monthly Mingle" event. Michelle of "What's cooking?" is guest hosting MM event this month with a theme of "Healthy family dinners". Thanks to both of you, enjoy my slightly spicy, healthy and tasty Fricassee! :))

Here is a tasty and healthy fricassee of chicken with typical Caribbean flavors added like Allspice, Thyme, and not to forget Scotch Bonnet peppers if you can handle it! Well...I can't handle it, so I chickened out and used half of a Jalapeno which is more my style! :D

There are various recipes for the Fricassee of chicken and here I chose to make a Caribbean style Chicken Fricassee. Allspice is a unique berry (click here to see the photo and info, allspice is not Garam masala!) which has a distinctive aroma and taste, which is used in savory and in desserts as well. Since Caribbean cuisine has a little bit of Indian influence too, this would be a perfectly healthy brunch or dinner for any family, specially fit for a Winter meal with a little warmth of Jalapenos and peppers in the throat. Here is my version, hope you enjoy it too! :))

Caribbean Chicken Fricassee: I used my own fresh herbs from my herb pot for this dish, which I moved into my garage when the Winter chill started. They have survived beautifully although garage is pretty cold place too! Nothing like the aroma of fresh herbs when it hits the heat but you can use dry herbs as well. You can also add carrots and celery to it, I didn't. Make it with thicker sauce for noodles or thinner sauce like I did here to serve with rice, it's up to you.

You need:
1 tbsp olive oil or Canola oil,
1 tbsp butter,
2 lbs of chicken,
white and dark meats,cut into big chunks,
1 tbsp plain flour,
1-2 cup chicken stock,
salt to taste,
1 small onion, minced,
2 garlic, minced, 1" ginger, minced,
1/2 Jalapeno, sliced,
1/2 cup Tomato sauce,
2 tsp Vinegar, malt or cider vinegar or any you have, even Worcestershire sauce,
1/2 tsp Paprika,
1 tbsp fresh Thyme or 1/2 tsp dry Thyme,
1/2 tsp Oregano, few sprigs of Parsley,
2 tsp minced fresh Mint,
1 tsp Allspice powder,
1/2 tsp coarse black pepper.

Save some more herbs and 1/4 tsp Allspice pd to add at the end of cooking.

How to:
1. Take a pressure cooker or a deep dish, add 1 tbsp oil and heat. Then add chicken and stir fry until whitish. Sprinkle the flour on top, mix well to coat, stir for a minute and take the chicken out into a plate.
2. Add 1 tbsp butter, fry onion until translucent, add Jalapenos, ginger and garlic, stir for a minute. Add tomato sauce, saute for a minute. Now add all the spices, vinegar and chicken stock to the pan, mix well.
3. Add in the chicken, and pressure cook gently on low heat for mins or cover and cook in the pan until chicken is cooked through, doesn't take much time.
4. Open the lid, add all the saved herbs and pepper and allspice, simmer for 2 mins. Adjust the thinness as you desire adding water or stock and adjust the salt. Tastes better the next day.

Serve with either Blackeyed peas rice or Noodles. Serving this on a bed of mashed potatoes will surely please the kids! ;D

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Blackeyed peas rice/Pulao goes to Sudeshna of "Bengali Cuisine" blog's "Harvest-The festival of Rice" event. Thanks for hosting Sudeshna, have fun. Looking forward to the yummy rice round up! :))

Blackeyed peas are my favorite beans, specially those brown ones. Any rice dish made with these beans are extra healthy and tasty, a mild tasting dish for kids too who don't like spicy food. This Pulao goes well with either vegetarian or non-vegetarian dishes and is very easy and quick recipe to make if you use a microwave and canned Blackeyed peas, enjoy! :)

Blackeyed Peas rice/Pulao: Usually when I open any can of beans, I drain all the water and rinse the beans once before adding it to the dish. But here, I used all the water which comes with canned Blackeyed peas to make the Pulao more flavorful, delicious and it also gives a earthy color to this rice dish too.

Ingredients:

First, open a 8 or 12 oz can of Blackeyed peas, drain the juice and save the juice another bowl. Add enough water of stock to this bowl to make 3 1/2 cups of liquid and keep aside. We use this to cook rice later. Keep the drained Blackeyed peas aside for later too.

Keep these handy:
2 tsp oil and 1 tsp butter,
1" ginger and 2 garlic, minced, ground or grated,
2 cloves and 1 Bay leaf,
1 tsp Cumin seeds powder,
1 tsp or more salt,
1 tsp crushed peper,
2 cups long grain rice,
3 1/2 cups of liquid (stock or water combined with beans juice),
1/2 tsp dry mixed herbs or 1/2 tsp each of dry Thyme and Parsley,
Drained Blackeyed peas.

To make Pulao:
1. In a microwavable bowl, add 2 tsp oil and 1 tsp butter, heat it for a minute or 2 until hot.
2. Add 2 cloves, 1 Bay leaf, 2 garlic and 1" ginger paste to it, stir well and MW for 2 more mins.
3. Add 1 tsp cumin seeds powder, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp crushed pepper, 2 cups long grain rice, mix well to coat with oil and butter mixture.
4. Now, add 3 1/2 cups (this is my rice to water proportion, rice you use might have different proportion of water) water or vegetable stock or Chicken stock, including the drained Blackeyed peas water, dry herbs and mix well.
5. Microwave uncovered for 16 mins on high (100%). Now, add Blackeyed peas to it, mix well.
6. Cover the bowl with a plate this time and microwave at 50% for 6 mins.
6. Take out and fluff the rice with a fork to mix beans well, adjust the salt and pepper. Cover and serve when needed.

Enjoy the Super Bowl Sunday, see you all next week! :))

Thai spicy salad and a Persimmon pudding to cool you down!

Spicy Thai salad is my contribution to "A.W.E.D.-Thailand" (vegetarian) event which is hosted by DK of "Culinary Bazaar". Thanks for hosting, dear Ms. DK! :))
As DK and I were talking about weight, gaining and losing and all that beautiful things (Mine mostly! :D) last week, I thought I will make a light and spicy dish rather than usual Thai curries specially for DK for her event and went on to search and research to come up with this salad. Then I find this event "Just for you" hosted by Alka of "Sindhi Rasoi" who asks us to cook for a friend, family members etc. So, this salad which I specially picked and made for DK fits perfectly to Alka's event as well! :)
LG of "cooking station" is hosting a "SWC-salads under 15mins" event too, just found out. Here it is for you too LG, enjoy!
Then came this wonderful "AFAM-Persimmon" event, originally conceived by Maheswari and Trupti of "recipecenterforall" is guest hosting this month with her choice of fruit. Persimmon Pudding goes to her.
Since this pudding is baked with fruit, low fat milk and excellent for kids as well as adults, I am sending this to "Cooking for kids-Milk, milk products" event which is started by Sharmi of "Neivedyam" blog and Preety of "Preety's Kitchen" is guest hosting this month.

Thanks for all of you for taking time to host and round up, enjoy the spicy Thai salad and cool it down with delicious and easy to make Persimmon Pudding!! :)

Hot and spicy salad from Thailand:
Well.. I don't know whether Thai people eat this salad in their land (like Taco Bell is authentic "Mexican food", "Curry" is Indian! :D) but in US restaurants, this spicy salad is quite popular as an appetizer. Yes, I have eaten it and loved it, that's where the inspiration comes from for me to recreate this salad.
There is a Thai Beef salad called "Yam Neua", similar to this dish except served topped with grilled Beef. I have adapted this vegetarian recipe with some additions of my own from the Naked chef "Jamie Oliver".

All I can say is, this salad is deliciously spicy and can make a great light lunch as well. Loaded with fresh vegetables, peanuts, Almonds, green chillies, crunchy noodles and topped with sesame seeds oil, ginger, garlic. lemon juice etc in the dressing, it makes a satisfying and low fat appetizer or lunch. Enjoy.



You need these:

Bunch of Romaine lettuce, Iceberg Lettuce, fresh Tomato, Cucumber slices, baby red radishes, green, red and orange bell peppers slices, 1/4 minced Jalapeno, bean sprouts if you have it, snow peas, grated carrots, green onions, purple cabbage slices, red onion slices, toasted sesame seeds, toasted Almond slivers, toasted or salted peanuts, store bought crispy flour noodles (Asian "Sev"), fresh Cilantro, few Mint leaves or Thai Basil if you have it. Any fresh veggies you can get your hands will do.

On a salad plate or bowl, add lettuce first to create a bed, add all the other veggies mentioned above one by one and pile up. Sprinkle roasted nuts, crunchy noodles and herbs on top, garnish with green onion. Serve with hot and spicy dressing on the side and just before you serve or eat, sprinkle the dressing on top. Don't mix dressing before hand, fresh veggies and nuts get soggy and soft. Remember, dressing is spicy!

Thai style HOT dressing! Slurp!! :D

For Thai dressing, mix all these well in a bowl and let it rest for an hour or so in the fridge:
3-4 tbsp fresh lemon juice, 1 tsp canola oil, 1 tbsp sesame seed oil, 2 tsp Soy sauce, 1 tsp brown sugar or honey, 1 tsp grated ginger, 1 garlic, grated, 1 tsp red chilli sauce (I added Sriracha hot sauce, and 1/2 tsp of peanut butter too!), few cilantro. Shake these well in a bottle, pour into a bowl and chill for few mins before serving. Stick a few lemon slices and cilantro to garnish. Adjust the salt, chilli etc to your taste. It should spicy, sweet and tangy, all in one. Sounds good, huh? Enjoy! :))

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Persimmon:
I am happy to give you this delicious and easy to bake recipe. I had neverbought Persimmon before since I didn't know how it tasted. Thanks to Trupti's AFAM, I went and bought 4 Japanese "Fuyus" Persimmon which look like ripe yellow Tomatoes. It smelled so delicious and tasted like Lychees. They say that other kind of Persimmon, which is heart shaped tangy "Hachiya" should be used to cook, and Fuyus should be eaten fresh. But I did use the Fuyus and trust me, they baked perfectly even with a thick sweet syrup under the pudding!! My son ate half of it alone with cream! :D
Hope you try and bake this yummy pudding. It's low in fat and not too sweet, great for kids and grown ups alike, almost a diet dessert if you skip the cream!!

Persimmon Pudding:
This recipe is adapted from "Allrecipes" websites but I did a change a lot, specially cut down the sugar etc. If you don't like the Egg, you can skip it. Pudding is scoopable, not like cake. So it's quite okay to skip the egg, egg makes it fluffy though. Baking time varies too acc. to your oven.

To bake Persimmon Pudding, you need these:
4 ripe Fuyu persimmons, peeled and roughly chopped or squeeze out into chunks,
1/3 cup white sugar, or more if you like it really sweet,
1 egg, beaten, (skip the egg if you like but pudding will be less fluffy)
1 cup all-purpose flour,
1/4 tsp baking soda,
1 tsp baking powder.

1/2 teaspoon ground sweet cinnamon,
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract,
1/2 pinch salt,
3/4 cup 2% milk,
2 tbsp melted butter.

To bake Pudding:
Preheat oven to 350F.
Lightly butter or spray a 9" round deep baking dish.

1. In a mixing bowl, mix persimmon pulp, baking soda, sugar and egg and beat until well mixed.
2. Add flour, baking powder, cinnamon, vanilla essence, salt, milk and melted butter to the bowl with fruit etc, mix well again.
3. Pour into baking pan and bake for 50-65 minutes or until needle inserted comes clean. Do not over bake,it's okay if it's little soft in the center, it will firm up as it cools.

(You don't have to do this step but do it if you can. After 20mins of baking, open the oven door and with a fork, stir the middle of the pudding few times and let it bake. It makes the pudding fluffier! Don't open the oven door again)

4. Pudding will rise in the oven and puff but will fall in after cooling, which is normal. Cool the pudding.
5. Serve with creamy whipped cream if you like.
You can use any ripe fruit with pulp in the same recipe instaed of Persimmons. Oven baking times may vary, use your judgment.

Have a great weekend, see you on Monday! :))

Parading Injera, Griddle Omelet and cheesy Hash with Wasabi Mayonnaise!

Susan of "The well-seasoned cook" is hosting a "Pancakes Parade" event this time. Pancakes? We do have thousands of those in India, don't we? I thought why not try a new pancake I have not tried before. So here it is, a Ethiopian Injera with two side dishes and salad! Enjoy Susan, thanks for hosting!:)


A little note: This is my last post at "Aroma" blog for events this month until the end of August. I will miss cooking for your events but it's time to take a break and rest a bit!
I still have 3 more posts ready to go at my "Foodie's Hope" blog until July 9th. After I post them there, I will be taking a vacation in the cooler Smoky mountain and a long Summer blog break. If you need any recipes from this blog, please type the words in the search engine you see on the sidebar or go to my Recipe Index to search by category or ask me, I will still be moderating the comments here anyway. Enjoy these for now! :)

About Teff:
Teff is staple grain of Ethiopian cuisine and the smallest grain in the world. It takes about 150 teff seeds to equal the weight of a kernel of wheat, so you can imagine how samll! Teff grain is very high in fiber, iron and calcium. It has a sweetish nutty flavor, is completely gluten free ( just like rice flour we use for Neer dosa,) , so you have to mix Teff flour with other flour to make Injera to prevent it breaking into pieces. Teff comes in different colors ie reddish, brown and very creamy color. Injera is eaten with spicy meat (Doro wat+chicken stew) and vegetable Wat (stews) placed on huge Injera on the plate and eaten by hand, tearing and scooping the stews and with a Salata (salad)! Of course they have coffee, homemade Beer called Tela and Tej is a homemade Wine! Ethiopians make many spicy sides dishes, place on the Injera itself and eat them by hand tearing a piece of Injera and scooping the side dishes with it, just like we Indians do! Desserts are not usually served with every meal.

Ethiopian Injera, Yegomen Wat, Yataklete Klikil and a Salata!
Yegomen wat is a side dish with spiced greens like Collard, Kale etc, Yataklete Kilkil is mixed vegetable stew (I used just beets) and a salata/salad of Cucumber, lemon juice, green onion, cilantro and salt. Injera can be made as big as 10-12" in diameter!
Injera, a Ethiopian pancake like dosa, is the national bread of Ethiopia and these can be made in various ways. Just mix Teff flour with water and salt, pour like neer(rice flour) dosa or mix with wheat or plain flour to make pancakes or ferment the batter overnight or longer up to 3 days to make very sour pancakes too. I chose to ferment Teff+wheat flour (atta) batter for just 1 day like we ferment to make our own rice and Urad dosa we south Indians are famous for! :D

How to make Injera:


This is how I made Injera:
1. Mix 1 cup Teff flour, 2 cups slightly warm water, pinch of sugar, 2 tbsp yogurt or 1 tsp yeast, ferment overnight to make them next day.
2. Next morning, add little salt, 1/2 cup plain flour or wheat flour, mix well. Make the batter thin enough to spread itself on the tawa, leave it for 1 hr. A pinch of soda can be added before making Injera.
3. Heat a non-stick Tawa on medium high heat, spread the batter as big as you can, cover with a lid. You cook only on one side as you do Neer dosa but if you can manage flip once.
4. When cooked take it out on a plate, repeat with others.
5. Serve with side dishes, salad and coffee.



Two side dishes:

To make Yegomen wat:
1. Heat 1 tbsp oil, add 3 chopped garlic, 1/2" grated ginger, few red chilly flakes or few green chillies, saute for a minute.
2. Add 1 chopped onion, saute until soft. Add in 6 cups of cleaned and chopped Greens like collard, kale or Spinach. I used homegrown red chard, pinch of salt and pepper, 1/4 cup water and cook until soft with very little gravy. You can sprinkle 1/8 tsp of Cardamom pd or Nutmeg pd. Adjust the spices and serve.

To make Yataklete Kilkil:
1. You need 4 cups of mixed vegetables. I used just Beets, peeled and cubed.
2. You cook the same way as above but you can add spicy Berbere spice mix if you like this to be different from Greens. It's a mix of various spices similar Indian curry masala.
3. You can also use Niter Kebbeh/spiced butter to season instead of just oil, gives it a great aroma and taste.




Perfect Ethiopian Injera/African Dosa! :D

Enjoy, we certainly did!:)

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KayKat from "Cooking from A to Z" blog is guest hosting "Think spice..Think..." event this month with her of spice "Wasabi"! Ooh, scary spice isn't it? ;D
This event's creator is Sunita of "Sunita's World". My contribution to this event is "Wasabi Mayonnaise on griddle Omelet and cheesy Hash". Enjoy and my thanks to KayKat and Sunita!:))



Wasabi:
Wasabi is used in mostly Japanese cuisine like Sushi, Sashimi etc. The real Wasabi is a root which is to be grated or ground to use. Poor little people like me use the generic Wasabi which comes in little tubes and boxes like this you see below. Click on the Wasabi title link to learn more.
My first experience of eating Wasabi was at a restaurant, not Japanese but in a Italian one. It came as big coin sized green blob on the side of the plate with appetizers. I thought it was some fancy green Mayo and scooped 1/4 tsp and put in my mouth. Next thing I know I was literally seeing stars, my brain started tingling, felt like needles all over my skin and I thought I was going to drop dead right there. It was nothing like I have experience before, specially when your's truly loves her Jalapeño chutney with ghee and Ragi rotti people!! I ran to the rest room to wash of me off ASAP! :D
Well... they had served me the pure kind of root Wasabi. Hurray for them!! I am going to give you a milder and American style Wasabi Mayonnaise, so you can relax. My kids ate this Wasabi Mayo with Omelet and Hash, that says something, ain't it? ;D

Not so authentic Wasabi/greenish Horse Radish powder in a box!!

To make Wasabi Mayonnaise:
Mix 1 tbsp of powdered Wasabi, 5 tbsp regular good quality Mayonnaise from the store, 1 tsp Lemon juice, pinch of salt, 1 tsp honey or sugar (optional), 1 tsp water only if needed and if it's too thick to pour or drizzle on these. Whisk all these and pour into a plastic bottle with spout. Best chilled in the fridge or keep at room temp if using quickly but not for too long, got Mayo in there, remember?

Omelet and Cheesy Hash drizzled with Wasabi Mayonnaise:
This recipe serves two. I have already posted these combo before here. These are similar but simpler way of making these. Once done, plate them and drizzle the Wasabi Mayo on top and serve immediately. Tastes wonderful, enjoy!:)

Make Hash:
Hash takes longer to cook, so start that first. Hash is nothing but grated Potato, cooked with spices and vegs until crisp, a southern US classic.
Coarsely grate 2 medium peeled potatoes. Heat some oil or butter in a non-stick skillet, spread the grated Hash thinly, sprinkle salt, let it get reddish brown on the bottom. Gently flip.
Add any spices and herbs. When done, sprinkle cheese on top, cut into half and take them out on a plate.
Omelet:
Make Omelet with 3 eggs, add salt, spices of your choice on a griddle or a non-stick pan. Push the eggs to the center while it's cooking to make the Omelet thick and fluffy. Cover let it cook on gentle heat, sprinkle cheese on it and take out on a plate. Drizzle Wasabi Mayo and serve with Hash on the side!!

Have a wonderful fun filled Summer, will see you at the end of August or September here again at Aroma!