Lehsuni Gobi - Garlicky cauliflower

Lehsuni gobi is one of those recipes that I've always loved making and having when I want something close to my heart.

Ingredients:
One whole cauliflower
4 or 5 cloves of garlic - crushed
.5 tbsp cumin
.5 tbsp coriander
1 tsp cloves
1 tsp cardamom
1 stick of cinnamon
.5 tbsp black peppercorns
3 or 4 bay leaves
1 tbsp oil

Method:
In a mortar and pestle pound the cardamom, cumin, coriander, black peppercorns, and cloves to powder. Set aside in a bowl along with the cinnamon stick and bay leaves. Cut cauliflower into small to medium size pieces. Heat oil in a large frying pan. Add the spices and the herb into the pan once it's hot.  While the spices are frying - keep the heat to medium so the spices don't burn. Add the cauliflower to the pan once you start to smell the spices. Stir fry for 5 minutes. Add 2 tablespoons of water to the pan and cover with lid. Let the cauliflower cook in steam for 5 to 8 minutes.
Best served with roti or rice.

The Monday Night Dinner: Meat and three Veg

So often, after a busy weekend I will have a lot of catching up to do on a Monday. Cleaning up the messes we left behind during the weekend, making sure the laundry is done for the week, and  just general maintenance. In all of this, it becomes difficult to make a good, balanced meal in a jiffy. This recipe is so simple you will wonder why you hadn't thought of it before and perhaps make it a weekly special. It is my own version of a "set it and forget it" type of dinners. I hope you enjoy this as much as I do.

Ingredients:

• Bacon - 4 or 5 strips
• Chicken thighs - 5 or 6 pieces (preferred skinless for this recipe)
• Mushrooms - half a pound
• Carrots - 1 large or  2 medium sized
• Cauliflower - one large floret
• Broccoli - one large floret
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Dry thyme
• Cast iron skillet (deep dish) or an oven safe deep dish

Method:

• Pre-heat the oven to 375⁰F
• Dice the bacon to small pieces
• In the cast iron skillet or oven safe dish, line the bottom of the pan with the sliced bacon.
• Dice all the vegetables to roughly the same size. 
• Add the vegetables in layers to the pan, starting with mushrooms and finishing with broccoli. Adding salt and pepper to the veggies at this point will help with the cooking process. Also, add some thyme to the veggies layer.
• Layer the ckicken on top of the veggies. Sprinkle salt and pepper and drop twigs of thyme or just some dry leaves.
• Cover the cast iron skillet with aluminum foil and move it to the oven to cook. Total cook time will be between 45 minutes to an hour, depending on your oven. Let it cook for the first 20 minutes covered. After the first twenty  minutes of cook time, remove the foil  and let it cook in the oven for another 25 or  35 minutes. You can even stir the contents at this point and check the chicken to see if it is cooked.

I usually chow down on this as it is, you can serve it with bread, quinoa or grains of any kind you prefer. Happy Monday!

Pork and Shrimp rolls

So, my friend Graeme really wanted to learn how to make Chinese spring rolls. He is used to ordering in when he wants a taste of the Orient and is usually left wanting more when he runs out, as is the case with most of us. In light of this, I decided to help him out and teach him how to roll them. The trick is to realize that even though you are working with food, it is quite like origami. All you have to do is make sure your fingers are not sticking to the wrappers and keep your work station clean so that you can form the rolls with ease. It is fairly easy to make the wrappers on your own however, they are time consuming and for this specific project I did not want to go full crazy Nona mode and make EVERYTHING from scratch. Rather I stuck to making the stuffing on my own, and used store bought wrappers from my local Asian grocer.

Ingredients:

• Store bought wrappers - 1 pack (usually will be enough as a pack has about 50 wrappers)
• 2 pounds of pork mince
• 2 pounds of raw shrimp
• cilantro fresh
• fresh spring onions
• dipping sauce of your choice
• Oil for frying - 1/2 cup of vegetable oil or any other oil able to sustain high heat

Method:

• In a mixing bowl, take the pork mince and add the fresh cilantro and spring onions after a quick rough chop. 
• Clean and de-vein the shrimp, and then chop it up into chunks. Add it to the bowl with pork. 
• Give the mince and shrimp a good mix, so that the herbs are nicely blended with the shrimp and pork. That is your filling for the spring rolls.
• Now moving on to the wrapping. Make sure your work station is clean so you can use the counter space to start rolling. 
• Follow the instructions on the wrapper pack to make sure the wrappers do not dry out while you're using them. If they do, the wrappers will turn into hard, non malleable sheets, which will not serve any purpose.
• Take a tablespoon of the mixture and scoop that into a corner of the wrapper like the diagram shows (please refer to the diagram for these steps)
• Using the wrapper in a kite shape, one tip pointing down, put the mince mix towards the tip close to you. Then fold the tip over the mixture, followed by folding in the side "flaps". 
• Once the mixture is secure, finish the process by rolling up the rest of wrapper.
• To cook, heat up the oil in a sauce pot. Gently place the rolls, the fold side down in the oil to prevent splashing. 
• Cook each roll for 3 minutes each side, careful not to burn the outside. If the heat is too high, the meat inside won't cook and the wrapper will be dark. 

Serve this with any dipping sauce you prefer. It is a great appetizer and can be prerolled and frozen to have them ready in a jiffy.