Signature Concoctions

Til Gul – the essence of Sankrant

Vasanti — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 08:45:02 +0000

As the sesame seeds were roasting, their delicate aroma hovered over the pan and soon filled up my entire kitchen. Simultaneously, golden brown sugar syrup was bubbling away in a saucepan, adding a subtle sweet fragrance around me that reminded me of my childhood days when mom made Til Gul especially for Sankrant.

The very first Indian festival of the year is here and for the very first time, I made the quintessential sweet for the festivities, Til Gul, at home. After all these years, I was almost craving to bite into one of those soft, nutty candies and I decided to make some right away! I pulled out my handbook of Marathi cuisine, “Ruchira” (see Evolving Tastes for the details and an extensive review of the book) and looked at the traditional recipe. Having all the ingredients on hand, I jumped right at it by roasting the sesame seeds and caramelizing the sugar. The simple combination of the sesame seeds with melted sugar is incredible on it’s own, but becomes even more amazing when mixed with ground cardamom and crushed roasted peanuts. This, to me, is the true essence of Sankrant!

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kheema and beyond

Vasanti — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 05:19:44 +0000

Kheema, a North Indian classic, is a spicy curry made with minced meat and fresh peas, simmered in a pot with ginger, garlic, onions, tomatoes and a bunch of warm spices. Think of it as the Indian version of the American favorite, chili. While traditionally, ground mutton or goat meat is used in kheema, you can use any kind of ground meat or create a vegetarian version like I have done, with minced mushrooms or cauliflower.

Making the kheema may seem a little daunting, but don’t be intimidated by the long list of ingredients. It’s a pretty simple, one-pot concoction that’s easy and quick enough to make even for a weeknight dinner. And you can play with the ingredients; stir in a few veggies like green peas, diced potatoes and even chopped spinach! Serve it in its humble form to be mopped up with pav or naan or simply mixed in with steamed basmati rice for a hearty meal.

I often double my kheema recipe; my family loves to eat it in its true form and then I like to play with the leftover, turning it into something beyond my imagination – stuffed in kheema puffs or kheema triangles for quick appetizers, turned into a party food as kheema tartlets or as a topping for the kheema pizza, bubbling with melted cheese hot off the oven!

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3 cheers!!!

Vasanti — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 22:09:36 +0000

And here we are at the finalé of yet another amazing season of signature concoctions! What an eventful year with my culinary journey mirroring real life; New York to San Francisco. It’s been three years since I started blogging about my cooking and clicking adventures. Unbelievable! Unbelievable, because I am now here with over 100 blog posts, more than 250 recipes, an average of 250 daily page views and thousands of readers all over the world. It started with, like, my mom hitting my site a number of times a day and me clicking pictures with a trusty old point and shoot.

This blog lets me share my love for food and record everything around it…the stories, some lovely memories and my ethnicity. Cliched as it may sound, it all comes down to, you, my readers. You visit week and week to read my posts, praise my photos and try my recipes; I am humbled and very thankful to you for the kind comments and words of encouragement that keep me going.

Enjoy the rest of your summer and see you in the fall. Signing off on a sweet note, with my decadent chocolate-orange ganache tart.

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more with the mango

Vasanti — Sat, 16 Jul 2011 08:15:34 +0000

It’s that time of year when mangoes are all over the place. And for me, no other fruit says Summer, quite like the mango! At the very onset of the season, the markets start filling up with a variety of mangoes. You’ve experienced the mango madness and explored the green side of mango with me, but there’s a lot more you can do with the sweet- tart, versatile mango.

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lil’ connoisseur

Vasanti — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 06:36:05 +0000

Meet the lil’ connoisseur!

He has a few teeth and he loves to eat…

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inspirations from the “chocolate salon”

Vasanti — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 05:08:29 +0000

Just a few days ago, Kanika stopped by and got with her these absolutely amazing chocolate cookies that she had just she baked that afternoon. I couldn’t stop eating what I called a decadent chocolate cookie brittle…one piece after the other till it was all gone within no time! I couldn’t figure out, for quite a while, what gave those cookies a wonderful salty hint…until she shared her recipe with me. Check out the secret behind these feathery sweet-salty chocolate wafer cookies!

It was an unbelievable experience at the 5th Annual San Francisco International Chocolate Salon early this year. Rubbing shoulders, shaking hands & talking with some of the renowned chefs was not only an exhilarating feeling but something that I had never experienced before. Watching them cook on TV shows, writing cook books is one thing and sitting in front of them seeing them giving demos, tasting their concoctions is another. I was fortunate enough to be a part of the latter one.

The recipe that I am sharing with you comes from Chef, Author & Chocolate Guru, Alice Medrich. She gave a few appetizer & dessert demos, of which I picked the one I liked the best in the dessert category. It’s called Thin Wafer Cookies. These are very thin, crispy cookies dusted with crushed pine nuts, pecans, pistachios and hint of sea salt & Parmesan cheese….yes you read that right… Parmesan!

Enjoy baking it and have it with your favorite cup of coffee!

-Kanika

Mix:
1/2 cup Cocoa powder
1/2 cup Sugar
1+1/2 tbsp All purpose flour
pinch of sea salt
Egg white from 2 eggs
1/4 cup + 1tbsp (5 tbsp) Unsalted Butter (Melted)

For the topping:
Finely chopped nuts of your choice (I used pine nuts, pecans & pistachios)
tiny bit of finely grated Parmesan cheese
pinch of sea salt

For baking:
Cookie sheet
Sil pat or foil
butter for coating to prevent the mix from sticking

Preheat the oven at 350 degrees
Combine the contents of the mix until well blended.
Lay a sheet of foil or sil pat on a cookie sheet. Coat the foil or sil pat with little bit of melted butter
Spread the mix evenly on the sil pat or foil.
Sprinkle with finely chopped nuts, sea salt & Parmesan cheese.
Pop the cookie sheet in the oven (3rd rack from top or bottom)
Bake for 11-13 mins.
Let it cool and break into abstract pieces.

a cherrylicious dessert

Vasanti — Sun, 19 Jun 2011 04:53:59 +0000

I’ve been popping cherries in my mouth all the time this week! Thanks to my friend Meghana, we went cherry picking last weekend and brought back a huge bag of gorgeous red and black cherries.

The cherry season was at its peak in Brentwood and it was the perfect time to go there and have some fun in the sun. During the couple of hours we spent at the ranch, we plucked a few pounds of their juicy, sweet cherries to bring back home and ate almost equal amounts the same time right from the trees!

After sharing a few bags with friends and family and snacking on those sweet-tart cherries all week long, there were a few more sitting in the refrigerator. To make the most of the cherry season in my house, I thought of opening my cooking school binder and make a cherrylicious dessert that I learnt to make in my very first class - a Cherry Clafoutis.

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a desi burrito

Vasanti — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 05:54:35 +0000

If you love fusion food, here’s one for you – Chicken Tikka Masala Burrito!

This yummy idea comes from my friend, Kanika. She put her own spin on the Mexican favorite and turned it into a hearty burrito that is a perfect combination of ingredients: generous amount of her homemade chicken tikka masala, a little bit of rice and crunchy onions wrapped in a flour tortilla. When I saw the picture she posted, I asked her for her recipe and she was happy to share it with with me and the readers of my blog!

Makes 5 Burritos

For the marinade
1lb Chicken thighs boneless & skinless
3-4 tbsp yogurt
2 cloves garlic minced
1 inch piece Ginger minced
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1/8 cup Shaan chicken tikka BBQ mix (you can find this at any Indian store)
1 tbsp Rajah tandoori mix (optional)

For the masala (paste)
1 large red onion finely chopped
1 small yellow onion sliced
2 medium tomatoes finely chopped + 2 tbsp store bought tomato paste or puree
1/2 tbsp turmeric
3 large cloves garlic minced
1 inch piece ginger minced
2 small green chillies chopped
3-4 tbsp cooking oil
1 tsp garam masala (optional) (this is an Indian spice)
Pinch of red chilli powder
Salt to taste
Cilantro chopped
2 tbsp kasoori methi (optional)
1-11/4 cup rice
4 tortillas of your choice

Method:
1)Wash & cut chicken thighs into small pieces.
2)In a bowl mix the ingredients of the marinade and add chicken to it. Mix well.Refrigerate it for roughly 2 hrs
3)Meanwhile prepare the onion tomato masala. In a deep rounded pan, saute garlic, ginger, finely chopped onions over medium heat until translucent. Add tomatoes and the tomato paste. Saute it for about 5 minutes and add turmeric, red chilli powder, garam masala. Once the mix starts leaving oil add salt.
4)Now add the marinated chicken with the liquid to the above masala and mix so that all the ingredients blend well. Cover it with a lid and turn the gas to medium low heat. Keep stirring it occasionally until the chicken has cooked completely. If you want the gravy to be thick cook uncovered for last 5 mins.
5) Garnish it with Cilantro/ or Kasuri methi.
6) Boil rice just the way you would do it.

There are two ways to wrap it in a tortilla. Pick any of the two methods below:

1) Mix together the chicken tikka masala and rice. Spoon it on the tortilla and top it with some sliced yellow onions.Wrap the tortilla around the mixed stuffing to form a burrito.

2) Spoon rice on the tortilla followed by chicken tikka masala & sliced yellow onions. Wrap the tortilla around the mixed stuffing to form a burrito.

Serve it with mint chutney raita!

by Vasanti - Copyright © 2008-2011 Signature Concoctions - All Rights Reserved. | a desi burrito |

food-ostalgia!

Vasanti — Sun, 12 Jun 2011 05:00:07 +0000

A homesick Puneite…that’s me!

It’s been long since I visited home. I’m from Pune and it’s simply the best place on earth. Its where I grew up, went to school, made my first friends…and the most memorable memories of my life! Pune today is very different from the little city I call home. Decades ago, Pune was a hill station, a little town nestled in the Sahyadri Hills, that attracted hot-shot crowd from Bombay (now Mumbai, but always ‘the city that never ever sleeps’) to come and cool their heels. Rich in culture and filled with the mystical stories of the Peshwas and the exploits of Shivaji Maharaj, Pune was almost frozen in time. Then I went to college, got a new hair do and a new boyfriend and my little hometown got an attitude . You could dunk a beer at the ‘Black Cadillac’, shake a leg at ‘Ten Downing Street’, shop the brandz on Main Street and be cool at the Swiss Cheese Garden!

Today, going back home is a mixed bag. I love to go back to the places I know and love, and then stand and stare in awe at everything that’s brand-new. I look forward to meeting my family and friends, gorge on mom-made goodies (can’t afford to skip those!) and then get out, visit Pune… my Pune, the city I grew up in…..

Getting down to business.. top eating adventures in Pune; butter chicken at Sarovar, methi mutter malai at Portico, the pav bhaji from Anand Juice Bar, cheese pizza from local pizza joint – Supreme, cold coffee and chicken burgers from Marz-o-rin, and many more.

No more food-ostalgia! I’ve been cooking up all those delicious memories right here in my kitchen. Blast your taste buds with food from the past!

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by Vasanti - Copyright © 2008-2011 Signature Concoctions - All Rights Reserved. | food-ostalgia! |

cooking therapy

Vasanti — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 06:29:56 +0000

Its been quite a while since my last post! Well, after a fun-filled Summer and Fall at home with my family, I’m now busy working in the clouds

I’m back to work and it’s so much fun as I get to taste a little bit of San Francisco everyday! Even if it is for a few minutes, I try to step out for lunch and explore the foodie hot spots in downtown area. There are such amazing places to eat around my office building and then my favorite place in the foodie city, the Ferry Building, is just a hop, skip and a jump away . On balmy SF afternoons, I get out and join in the hustle-bustle of the farmers’ market or go strolling inside the building, getting inspirations and relishing the flavors of the marketplace.

Life’s certainly busier than ever before and I just haven’t had time to write about my signature concoctions lately. But, that doesn’t mean I have stopped cooking and clicking! When I’m done with work, I look forward to coming home and getting me some “cooking therapy” . I guess it’s my passion for cooking that makes it such a relaxing and therapeutic activity for me to do at the end of the day. And it also gives me a great sense of satisfaction to have fed my family with fresh, home-cooked food everyday.

In the last few weeks, I have been making my go-to jhatpat subzis or some weeknight quickies, primarily staying in my comfort zone. And then there were the other days when my creative juices were overflowing and I made concoctions like pasta with shrimp, grape tomatoes and baby spinach in a light wine sauce, a hearty pasta dish with fresh, clean flavors or spicy lentils with steamed brown basmati rice, a traditional Maharashtrian dish packed with proteins and carbohydrates that will leave you feeling re-energized at the end of the day and finally, baked masala fish packets, a full and delicious meal that’s done in a little pouch, making the clean up easier that ever.

These dishes are a great way to treat yourself after long hours at work – weeknight wonders that are ready in minutes and completely satisfying! Try making one of these and enjoy the therapeutic experience of cooking.

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by Vasanti - Copyright © 2008-2011 Signature Concoctions - All Rights Reserved. | cooking therapy |