at 22:55

Winter Warmer Root Vegetables and Chicken One Pot Dinner

Well, after thousands of Christmas lunches, between shopping eating, endless New Year Parties and then of course the  Poush Sankranti eating extravagance- it is time for me to remember ( at least I am trying. So you are not allowed to laugh) that I had promised to eat healthy for my dinner.

I am not one of those people who think healthy food is essentially bad food or no food at all. I actually like my food to be light, easy to cook –something that does not make me sluggish after eating. I love eating vegetables, fish and chicken. At the same time, I do not like bland food. My food needs to have texture, flavor and the spices. A combination of sweetness from vegetables, that meaty taste of fish or chicken and the zing of Asian spices like little green chili, black pepper, mustard, cumin, coriander etc. And of course the color: it has to be inspiring.

I am cooking a one-pot dish today, which has everything that I like. Note:  I am using chicken for protein and as I like it so much. That is optional. You can use kidney bean (rajma), chickpeas (chana) or Paneer in case you want some protein in your food. Otherwise, you can make this dish with just vegetables and it tastes equally wonderful.  

 

Ingredients (Measured for Two):

100g-carrots cut into small cubes

100g-Swede cut into small cubes

100g-Parshnip cut into small cubes

100g-Potatoes cut into small cubes

6-small pieces of chicken (optional)

1-large onion, cut in to thick wedges

3-cloves of garlic, sliced

3-tablespoon of tomato puree/ketchup ( I used  no added sugar version)

1-tablespoon of whole grain mustard paste

½-cup red lentil, washed

1-teaspoon dried oregano

1/2-teaspoon red chili flakes
 

1-tablespoon oil

Salt to taste

Black pepper to taste

 Method:

1.     Heat a pan with oil and fry garlic until you can smell it

2.    Add onion and fry the onion until almost caramelised

3.    Add the chicken and salt

4.    Add black paper and fry for a while

5.    Add the washed lentil

6.    Add rest of the vegetables and fry for 10mins

7.    Add water and boil

8.    After 10 mins to add tomato puree,oregano and red chili flakes

,

9.    Slow cook until water has reduced, chicken cooked and gravy thickened

10. Add more water and add the mustard paste

11.  Cook until desired gravy achieved

12. Serve  hot as one course meal or with  a slice of bread

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at 23:18

Spicy Chicken Meatball Soup

A wonderful satisfying ‘meal in a bowl’. The meat and stock can be prepared a day or several hours in advance.  And …..no noting more to say today. Just making this dinner and will be enjoying it while watching Wallander. 8.30pm

11.20pm : Hang on a second, Nobel peace prize awarded to the European Union?!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What hell was that about? I thought the madness stopped at Barak Obama, It seems not. EU for what? Is this a joke? Read this: http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2012/10/12/eu-wins-nobel-peace-prize-is-this-joke/

Haryana khap panchayats meet today to push for early marriages for girls to lower the risk of rape?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  What the hell are they talking about? F**** ing A***** oshobhotar ekta limit thake! Dhore dhore thappor deowa dorkar! Which century do we live in? please read http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/haryana-khap-panchayats-meet-today-to-push-for-early-marriages-for-girls-279111?pfrom=home-otherstories for details. And Please protest as loud as possible.

There is not space for silence!

Serves 4

Ingredients:

4-spring onion, trimmed

2-3 small hot red chilies, de- seeded

500gm-chicken mince

2-garlic cloves, peeled

2inch-frech root ginger, peeled and cut into small slices

4-stems of lemon grass, chopped roughly

2-tablespoon of coriander leaves

2- Litre chicken stock

6-karrif lime leaves or zest of lemon

2-tablespoon Thai fish sauce

Low fat cooking spray

200gm pak choi

1-red red pepper, de-seeded and sliced

4-tablespoon lemon juice

Salt to taste

Freshly ground black pepper

Method:

 

1.    Put the spring onion, chilies, garlic,  half the ginger and lemongrass  and some salt into a blender

2.    Add most of the coriander and whizz it together 

3.    Add the mixture with the chicken. Add little oil and fold well

4.    Use wet hand and make around 40 meatballs.

5.    You can fry it you like. I have used the oven to grill the meatballs

6.    Grill or fry them until they are brown and well done

7.    You can use the whole lot for the soup or save some in the freezer for later use just as meatball or in the other soups or spaghetti

8.    Put the chicken stock in large saucepan and add the lime leave or the lemon zest.

9.    Add fish sauce and remaining ginger and lemongrass.

10. Simmer for 15 mins and then remove the ginger, lemon leave and lemongrass

11. Add salt

12. Slowly add the grilled meat balls

13. Stir fry the pak choi and red pepper (optional, you can directly use it)

14. To serve, divide the stir-fried vegetable between four large warmed soup bowls and the pour soup and meatballs. Stir a teaspoon of lemon juice into each bowl and garnish with the remaining coriander leaves

 

 

at 19:39

Pan Roasted Chicken with ginger and garlic accompanied with chili lime oil and served with Sharon fruit Salad

Serves: 2 to 3 for dinner as mains without any sides

Preparation Time: 15 mins
Cook Time: 30 mins to roast chicken and mix the salad at the same time

Ingredient:

Roast Chicken

2 -Chicken legs/Breast (I have used breast)
4- Garlic cloves (you can reduce the quantity as per your taste.  We love the smell of garlic)
2-inch ginger
½ teaspoon Black pepper
2- Tablespoon of limejuice
1-tablespoon of oil
Salt to taste

Chili  Lime Oil:

2-tablespoon sun dried tomato oil (you can use any white/olive/vegetable oil too)
2-tablespoon of lemon juice
1 teaspoon of chili flakes


Sharon Fruit

Mix Green and Sharon Fruit Salad

 Sharon Fruit Salad:

1- Pack of green leafs (spinach, butter head, lettuce, and rocket)
1- Sharon fruit (you can use any fruit like apple, pear, pineapple, raw sweet and sour mango, sweet mango, pomegranate to name the few)
1- Tomato
½- cucumber
1 cup canned, washed chickpea or garbanzo beans
1-tablespoon roasted almond flakes
1-tablespoon pine seed (optional)
1-tablespoon sweet chili salad dressing (fat free)
1-tablespoon of vinaigrette (fat free)
Salt and black paper to taste


Pan Roasted Chicken

Method:

1. Wash chicken and slit them across.  Paste/grate the ginger and garlic. Marinate the chicken with ginger paste, garlic paste, salt, black paper and lemon juice. Keep aside for 10 mins while you prepare the salad
2. Heat a tawa/skillet on low flame (as low as possible). Add 1-tablespoon of oil and spread all over. Place the chicken over the pan
3. Cover and let it cook. Covering will help the chicken cook fast. Lift and turn the chicken occasionally.
4. If the chicken sticks sprinkle, little water as and when needed. However, do not overdo as the chicken might become soggy and lose the crispness of roasted chicken.  The chicken should release oil. If it does not then I always sprinkle water and avoid the temptation of giving oil .Trust me the taste remains the same. Nevertheless, if you are not as fastidious about oil as I am, then, go ahead and add more oil. It should take around 15 mins but might vary depending on the gas oven/electric oven etc.
5. Meanwhile slice Sharon fruit, tomato and cucumber in to small pieces. Tear the leafy greens or leave them just the way they are.  Add all the ingredients of salad and mix well. Careful not to put too much force as it might crash the fruits and the salad will become too soggy.
6. For chili oil, mix lime juice and chili flake. Add oil and keep side to use later.
7. After 15 mins or so, take the cover off. At this stage, the chicken should be almost cooked but not that brown.
8. Roast east side of the chicken until golden brown. In my gas, it takes about 5/8 each side.
9. Once the chicken is cooked to golden brown, take if off the tawa/skillet and let it settle for 5 mins. This process will prevent the chicken from becoming too chewy. Cut the chicken diagonally
10. Plate up with salad and sprinkle the chili oil over before serving

at 15:17

Cheering for Olympics 2012, Protesting Dow’s Involvement.And my usual -sharing recipe for Libyan Chicken Shorba

Olympic fever has finally caught me. I am glued to the TV watching swimming, boxing and of course Usain Bolt. We went for the women’s tennis final on Saturday, watched Serena William play for gold, Andy Murray at mixed double, and cheered to the heart’s content for Sania Mirza and Leander Paes. And of course one can never get bored of the beautiful Wimbledon stadium on a sunny day.

I intended to boycott the London Olympics 2012 for its association with Dow Company. But I guess sports events like Olympic has the power to bring people together positively and it also bring a sense of positive nationalism (this only get confirmed when you see how people all over world have cheered for Usain Bolt or Michael Phelp).  Moreover, it has the power to attract someone like me who has no interest in sport whatsoever, to be glued to watching swimming, boxing, archery and cheering for

However with great power comes great responsibility. I cannot shake away the discomfort I am feeling with Olympics’ association with Dow and Bhopal gas tragedy.

I would have like to believe that no one needs a reminder of that day .People will be aware of the  plight of the people ,how victims were treated back in 1984, how little or no compensation were given to them until today, how thousand continued to get effected and will continue to get effected by the toxic legacy of the disaster and how Indian state and corporate like  Union Carbide & Dow, attached to the gas leak have shaken all responsibility and people’s voices have been ignored.  

People within system, corporate and states surprise me- not because they don’t know but because they don’t care. The difference between knowing and caring seems to be increasing every day. No wonder Dow gets to sponsor a world class even like Olympic despite of protest from Indian people at large, people all over the world, survivors, academia, NGO, Indian Olympic association, people UK.

The Bhopal Death Toll:

Initial deaths (3-6 December): more than 3,000 - official toll
Unofficial initial toll: 7,000-8,000
Total deaths to date: over 15,000
Number affected Nearly 600,000
Compensation: Union Carbide pays $470m in 1989

Source: Indian Supreme Court, Madhya Pradesh government, Indian Council of Medical Research.(Source : http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-17054672)

In 1989, Union Carbide reached an out of court settlement with government of India and the company agreed to pay $470 million. The money built a hospital for those who suffered ill health and the survivor got $ 1000 each in compensation.  The agreement stand for a full and final settlement of Union Carbide of any Civil and Criminal Liabilities. Dow have merged with Union Carbide Corporation whose subsidiary Union Carbide Indian ran the Bhopal pesticide Plant in 1999. However Dow denies any liability of the leak and argues that $ 470 million as settlement is fair. This surely is a sponsor whose lack of appropriate action runs entirely counter to the Ethical Sourcing Code, says Peter Boocock an activist with https://www.change.org/en-GB/members/3040019. DOW Chemical, currently declared revenue for 2010 53.647 billion (2010), declared operating income 4.238 billion (2010, declared Profit 2.310 billion (2010). Cost of cleaning up Bhopal estimated at 135 Rs.crores = £16,735,304.804 or $26,230,145.237 cost approximation, however you measure the billions of profit that DOW makes [1,000 million US $ to a billion US $], that still leaves a substantial sum available for the directors, shareholders and DOW's day to day running costs yet they cannot clean the site or compensate the people.

Mr.Sarangi who runs Sambhavna Trust says, "what we find is a very high incidence of diseases: damage to the kidneys, the liver, the brain, the skin. The incidence of birth defects in these areas is at least 10 times what you would find in similar socio-economic populations." In a neighborhood just north of the Union Carbide plant, we found people drawing groundwater from a pump. We took a sample and had it tested at a laboratory in the United Kingdom. The test found that it contained nearly 4,000 micrograms per litre of carbon tetrachloride - nearly 1,000 times the World Health Organisation's safe limit. "Carbon tet", as it is known, is a highly toxic pollutant which is known to cause cancer and liver damage” (source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/8390156.stm).

In 25 years no one has been successfully persecuted for the leak or ground water contamination. On June 7, 2010, nearly 26 years after world's worst industrial disaster left over 15,000 dead, former Union Carbide India Chairman Keshub Mahindra and six others were sentenced to two years imprisonment. 89-year-old Anderson, the then Chairman of Union Carbide Corporation of USA, who lives in the United States, appeared to have gone scot-free for the present as he is still an absconder and did not subject himself to trial. Almost thirty years after the horrific Bhopal chemical disaster, the factory site has still not been cleared up and the survivors and their families continue to fight for compensation. If it is not Dow responsibility then whose it is?

“Speaking on Indian TV Mr Cameron said Dow was a "reputable" firm and the Games should not be used for industrial or political purposes. He said his heart went out to those who had suffered in the incident but that it happened before Dow was involved” (Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-17340658). If an event which has participation of over 200 countries does not included voices of the unheard, then what is the point of having such an event whose ideology is to bring nations together.  If this is not political, then what is? What would have UK said had the tragedy been in here?  

For Union Carbide or Dow the matter is legally and officially closed. For people of Bhopal it is far from close.

And for me, I continue to cheer for the spirit of the sport and continue to protest Dow’s involvement with Olympics

Recipe for Libyan Chicken Shorba (Libyan Styled chicken Stew)

Serves:  2 as main course on its own
Preparation Time: 15 mins
Cooking Time:  1Hr

 Ingredients:

1. 4 chicken leg pieces (approximately 250g) washed and cleaned
2. 1 big finely chopped red onion
3. 50g Canned Chickpeas (rinsed and drained)
4. 50g Orzo (Rice shaped pasta)
5. 3-tablespoon tomato puree
6. ¼-teaspoon cumin powder
7. ¼-teaspoon coriander seed powder
8. ¼-teaspoon red chili powder
9. ¼-teaspoon dried mint
10. 1 cup finely chopped coriander/cilantro
11. 1200ml water
12. 1-tablespoon oil
13. Salt to taste
14. 2 lemon wedges to serve

 Method:

1. Heat oil in a large heavy bottom stockpot. Fry the onion until translucent, pale golden and soft
2. Add the chicken and fry for 3/4 mins. Add cumin powder, coriander seed powder, chili powder. Fry for another 5 mins. If it sticks at the bottom sprinkle little water.
3. Add tomato puree and chickpeas and cook for another few minute until the puree mixes well with other ingredients
4. Add the water to the pot and cover. Simmer over a medium heat for 30mins
5. Add the orzo, coriander and cook for another 15 mins or until the Shorba have reduced to 1000ml in total and is flavorful. Adjust seasoning.
6. Add little dried mint, lemon and serve in a bowl

at 23:39

Galia Melon Salad- Breakfast made easy

 

We went for the Olympics yesterday for women’s final at centre court, Wimbledon that starts at 2.20pm. However, in the morning we received a sms (or text as Londoners say) informing us that mixed double will be played at the centre court prior to women’s final and should start around noon. It was already 7.30am in the morning and Wimbledon is far from our home. And, R needs to reach everywhere well (well, very well) before time. On top of it, for months, Transport for London has been motivating people to “stay ahead of the games” and we have taken that very seriously. Therefore, we decided that we should leave home by 9am.

It is a Saturday and I hate to eat my cereal on a weekend. With leaving bed to having my tea to taking shower, I only had less than an hour before we leave. I had nothing in the fridge from which I could make a quick breakfast other then the Galia melon. Therefore, I decided to make a breakfast salad with it. Galia is hybrid melon from honeydew and cantaloupe cross. It is sweet, spicy and flavored, more like cantaloupe then honeydew. It is at its best in the summer and is very easily available in all stores and fruit sellers. A medium Galia Melon has as little as 200 calorie, no fats, no cholesterol.  A  Very healthy and a very quick salad- just what I wanted for yesterday

Galia Melon Breakfast Salad

Serves: 2

Preparation time: 15mins

Ingredients

1 Galia Melon (Medium)

4-tablespoon white wine vinegar

4-tablespoon fish sauce

Pinch of sugar (optional)

Chili flakes (depending on your taste)

1-teaspoon chive

2-teaspoon coriander

Method

Take the skin and seeds off the melon and  cut into small dices

Add white wine vinegar and fish sauce and mix

Add sugar, chives, coriander . Mix all the ingredients

Garnish with little chili flakes and serve in a cereal bowl

And Enjoy your day!