Creamy Spinach

A lusciously rich, softly spiced and mildly sweet dish. It is so creamy that it coats the palette leaving a taste that will linger around

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Many of us have this habit. We try to mimic a dish we had in a restaurant or at a party, right?

I love an Indo-Chinese restaurant and often visit it when I am in the neighborhood. I think I have pretty much tried everything on the menu! One item I specifically remember is ‘Creamy Spinach Masala’. I loved it so much that I tried to make it at home. As much as it is fun, it is also challenging to reconstruct a dish just from the taste. I can’t say if I was even close but definitely the creamy spinach I prepared was a tongue-tickler!

A creamy blend of spinach, shallots, tomatoes and heavy cream, makes a rich and flavorful dish. This lusciously creamy dish has the earthy flavor of spinach and delicate sweetness of cream. It is softly spiced, mildly sweet, and so creamy that it coats the palette leaving a taste that will linger for a long time.

Creamy Spinach

Makes - 4 servings

Spinach	- 2 bunches	Garam Masala	- 2 tsps
Cream	- 3 cups	Pav Bhaji Masala	- 2 tsps
Green Peas	- 1/2 cup	Cloves	- 3
Onion	- 1 small	Cinnamon	- 1 inch stick
Tomato	- 1 medium	Salt	- to taste
Oil	- 2 tbsps

Heat oil in a pan. Add cloves, cinnamon, and fry for a minute.

Add chopped onions and cook until soft and translucent.

Add chopped tomato and cook until it becomes soft and mushy.

Now add chopped spinach, green peas and mix.

Close the lid and cook for about 10-15 minutes. Stir occasionally to make sure it does not burn.

Spinach gives out water as it cooks. If there is not enough water, you can add some.

Now add salt, masalas, and mix and cook for few more minutes.

Pour in the cream and cook for 5 more minutes till all the flavors blend.

You can add some green coloring to give the dish a nice bright color.

Turn off the heat and serve hot with rice or rotis.

Apple Crisp - Warm Fall Dessert

A simple dessert that combines fresh fruit with a topping. Warm baked apples coated with crunchy brown sugar oat streusel, a dessert that gives the feeling of fall and warmth for the season.

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The temperature has dropped down to 50’s, leaves have changed color and its dark by 6pm. Fall is here!

So what does this mean?

It’s time for sweaters, soups and warm comfort food. Also, it’s the season for abundance of apples!

Apple crisp is a dessert of warm baked apples topped with a tasty crust. It is a simple dessert that combines fresh fruit with a topping. Soft chunks of sweet-tart apple covered in a crisp and crunchy topping made with flour, sugar, butter, oats and nuts.

Warm from the oven with a dollop of ice cream, apple crisp is the ultimate comfort food dessert. Soft fruit coated with a crunchy brown sugar oat streusel gives the feeling of fall and the warmth for the season!

Apple Crisp

Makes - 6 - 8 Servings

For Topping		For Filing
Flour	– 1 1/3cup	Apples	– 6
Brown Sugar	– 1 1/3 cup	Sugar	– 1/2 cup
Oats	– 1/2 cup	Cinnamon Powder	– 1 - 2 tsps (optional)
Butter	– 8 tbsps or 1 stick
Pecans/Walnuts	– 1/4 cup (optional)

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees. Grease bottom and sides of a baking dish.

For topping, mix the flour, brown sugar, oats and nuts (optional) in bowl.

Blend the butter into the mixture until it’s crumbly. Set aside.

Peel the apples and cut into 1 inch pieces.

I use two varieties of apple; Granny Smith and Gala. Granny smith is tart and Gala is sweet. I do this to give a combination of sweetness and tartness. You can use any sweet apple variety and if you like, add lemon juice for the tartness.

Add sugar and cinnamon powder (optional) to the apples and toss to coat well.

Place the apples in the greased baking dish and spread the topping evenly over the apples.

Bake for 40 – 50 minutes until apples are bubbly and, topping turn golden brown.

Remove from oven and let it cool a little.

Serve warm with a dollop of ice cream or whipped cream.

Caramel Custard

Have you wondered what ambrosia tastes like? Sure! It tastes like a piece of this dessert.A light, silky and luscious dessert with soft caramel on top.

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Have you wondered what ambrosia tastes like? Sure! It tastes like a piece of this dessert.

Caramel custard is a rich, light, silky and luscious dessert. It has an impressive shiny appeal, a golden color and a divine flavor.Sugar syrup cooked to caramel stage is poured into the mold and then filled with custard. It is cooked on a stovetop or in the oven and set in the refrigerator to chill. It is served inverted with the layer of soft caramel on top.

This dessert is my family’s favorite and one of my mom’s classic desserts. Every time she made it, we would sit around the dining table and she would invert the big dish on to the plate to unmold the custard. As she gently lifts the dish, we would eagerly look at the slowly uncovering custard and the caramel running down from it. A moment worth waiting for is to see the creamy, smooth custard in entirety with the layer of caramel shinning on top. Every piece of the silky custard with caramel sauce over it is a real treat.

Caramel Custard

Makes - 6 Servings

For Custard		For Caramel
Milk	– 2 cups	Sugar	– 1 cup
Eggs	– 3
Sugar	– 1/3 cup
Vanilla Essence	– 2 tsp

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees

Heat the milk until very hot. Turn off and let it cool while you prepare rest of the ingredients.

I start with the milk first to give it sometime to cool before combining it with egg.

In a heavy saucepan, melt the sugar until you reach a nice golden color.

Be very careful! The caramel will continue to darken once removed from the heat and you can end up with a bitter caramel. I turn off the heat as soon as the sugar has caramelized and the color starts to turn amber.

Divide it among 4 ramekins. Let the caramel cool for about 5-10 minutes to harden.

In a bowl, beat the eggs and sugar until pale and well blended.

Slowly pour the milk over the eggs/sugar mixture little by little and whisk until well incorporated.

The key here is to add milk little by little as adding hot milk all at once will cook the eggs!

Now, beat in the vanilla essence and let the mixture cool for a bit.

You can run the mixture through a sieve/colander to remove any lumps that could have formed while combining hot milk and egg mixture.

Prepare the water bath for baking. Pour some hot water to about an inch deep in a deep baking pan.

Pour the egg custard mixture on top of the caramel filled ramekins.

Set your ramekins into the baking pan. Add more water if necessary; the water bath should come to about half way up the sides of the dishes.

Bake for about 20-30 minutes until the custards are just set and a knife inserted into the center comes out clean.

Carefully remove from the oven, remove the ramekins from the water bath, and let them cool to room temperature. Refrigerate and chill for about 4 hours before serving.

To serve, run a thin sharp knife along the side of the ramekin to loosen and invert onto dessert plates. Shake gently or slowly tap on base of the inverted ramekin to release onto the plates.

Tofu Masquerade!

Don't like tofu? Here is a trick to mask the taste of tofu from your palette, a flavorful dish, which by taste you cannot tell it has tofu!

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Yeah Yeah…I know tofu is healthy!

I have worked hard to get myself to like tofu! At every chance I have substituted tofu for Paneer but it never tasted the same! The farthest I could go with getting myself to eat tofu is pan-frying it in oil! Then talk about healthy?

With many unsuccessful attempts, I realized the only way out is to mask the taste of tofu from my palette! So, here’s the recipe to trick yourself into eating tofu with this great tasting dish. You can eat this healthy, warm and easy tofu egg scramble by the bowlful!

I felt it is easier to infuse flavors into tofu when scrambled than cubed pieces. I camouflage the bland taste of tofu by cooking it with onions and tomatoes flavored with medley of masalas. To enhance the taste and texture, I add egg and scramble it together. This creates a flavorful dish, which by the taste you cannot tell it has tofu!

Tofu Egg Scramble

Makes: 4 Servings

Tofu	- 1 block	Ginger Garlic paste	- 1 tsp
Eggs	- 4	Cinnamon	- 1 inch stick
Onion	- 1 large	Cloves	- 3
Tomato	- 2	Curry leaves	- 4-5
Chili Powder	- 1 tbsp	Cilantro	- a handful
Garam Masala	- 1 tbsp	Oil	- 3 tbsps
Pav Bhaji Masala	- 2 tbsps	Salt	- to taste

Heat oil in a pan; add cloves, cinnamon, and sauté until it flavors the oil

Add onions and sauté until translucent

Add ginger garlic paste and fry for a minute

Add tomatoes and cook until it is soft and mushy

Add all the spices, masalas, curry leaves and stir till it is all incorporated

You can add spices and masala of your choice.

Now, add crumbled tofu to the pan and mix well. Cook for about 8- 10 minutes or until done

Add salt and taste to adjust the masala and spices.

Now, add the eggs to the pan and mix until it combines. Keep stirring as you would for making scrambled eggs until the eggs are completely cooked.

Stir an additional 5 minutes on high heat after the eggs are cooked.

Turn off the heat, garnish with a bunch of cilantro and serve hot with rice or chapattis.