Stew - A Fave Recipie (From Nigella Bites)

This is a recipie from Nigella's show , "Nigella Bites". I saw this episode late night or early morning one day (Why is it that you come home exhausted at 4 in the morning and only things showing on TV are workout program, satsangs and food programs..) and tried it over the weekend. It was amazingingly simple to make and was lipsmackingly fingerlickin good.

But be warned, though Nigella called it a stew, it was more like a pasta with a slurpy sauce and yummy tender meat. It is comfort food at its best. Ideal for the coming monsoons..

Ingredients : It has been a while since I watched the episode and cooked this dish so I really do not remember the exact amounts. And this is not available on Nigella's website also. So change the amount as per your judegement.

1. Mutton - 1/2 Kg
2. Celery - 3-4 sticks
3. Onion - 2 Medium
4. Tomatoes - 4 Medium
5. Carrots - 2-3 Medium
6. Ginger Garlic paste - 2 -3 tablespoons
7. Red Wine/White wine - 1/2 cup
8. Oregano - for seasoning
9. Olive oil - 3 tablespoons
10 Water, salt and a dash of pepper
11. Pasta (penne or any other short pasta) - 2 handfuls

Serves two.
Prep time - 15 mins
Cooking time - 2 hours

1. Roughly chop onions and celery and make a coarse paste in the blender. Also mix in the ginger garlic paste.
2. Take a big pot and add oil. Put in half of the celery-onion-ginger-garlic paste. Add the meat and put the remaining paste. Let the paste cover the meat.
3. Stir the meat on low flame for 10-15  minutes. Add chopped tomatoes. Nigella recommends canned tomatoes. Add the carrots (cut in large pieces, large enough to be spooned out later)
4. Stir for 5 mins. Add some red wine and oregano, pepper and salt to taste. Stir for another 5 minutes.
5. Add lots and lots of water. The amount of water is dependent on the desired consistency of the dish.
6. Cover the pot and let it simmer for around 1.5 hours on low heat. Make sure there is enough water and the dish does not start burning.
7. Take out the carrots. Add some olive oil and sprinke some freshly ground pepper. These carrots will taste yummy. I think the carrots were my main reason for cooking this dish the first time.
8. There should still be some water left in the pot. Throw in the handfuls of pasta and cover the pot again.
9. Allow pasta to cook.
10. The yummy stew / pasta is ready....

A Leh Interlude

Cellphone pictures from parent's leh visit last week. Click on the picture to enlarge.

Simple Cooking - Chicken Curry

I have never been much of a cook. I like the idea of cooking but cooking, not so much. I used to enjoy the occasional cooking with roommates as a student but the the idea of everyday cooking does not enthuse me much. So my cooking abilities remained limited and I was clueless about cooking chicken. But nowadays I have some time on my hands and wanted to surprise hubby with home cooked chicken.

So google to rescue and I found an amazinging simple recepie that does not ask for any exotic spices and yet the end result is yummy and a rich impressive looking dish. Click
here for the recepie.

I just added a green chilli with the onions to make it more spicy. Also I think you can use your favorite chicken readymade masala, if you have instead of all the mentioned masalas.

New Happenings!!

One of the new year resolutions is to blog more. There have been a lot of changes in 2009. The most important change has been on the professional front. I have opted for the dial-down option at work and just work 4-5 hours a day. It has made all the difference in the quality of life. This change is now giving me some time to do "other" stuff like exercise, read, relax..

Started this work arrangement in October, went on a vacation to Goa, another vacation to Pune (was more of food tour though),re-decorated the home, spent time with hubby, improved cooking skills and just relaxed at home.