Brown Rice -- Tomato Rice

There was an interesting article in NatGeo(May '09) about the carbon foot print of wine. It seems it is more carbon efficient for a New Yorker to raise a glass of French Wine than a California one.

The wine journey from Napa Valley, Calif by less efficient and more carbon emitting trucks has a larger carbon foot print than the wine container shipped from France or even Sydney. So even though "distance" does matter, efficiencies in transportation might overcome that.

Though the article is not there on the net, the research findings which provided the numbers for NatGeo are here

All this makes me think it might not be all that environmentally prudent to buy local food always and shun food based on "food miles" alone

Who said "Going Green" would be easy ?

Green is back in my neighborhood though and so is Spring.


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Tulsi(Holy Basil) barely survived winter

Hostas are back, overcrowded, need to space them out, didn't

Annual azalea bloom in the garden

Green is back

We used to be quiet afraid of Brown Rice when we first heard about it. We even made fun of it and like ignorant bumpkins made statement that rice which was available for free in Indian ration stores were packaged and sold in super market aisles here at a high price.

Truth be told we had tried neither, the ration rice or the brown rice. But like true browns we chased the white until we fell for the goodness of brown.

With great trepidation we tried our first brown rice and liked nothing much about it. The only way we could eat this stuff is as a Khichuri or a Fried Rice, proclaimed the other half. So that is how it was, Brown Rice Khichuri or Fried Rice occasionally, on days we felt our body should ingest some goodness. Eating it felt morally so good that we could chomp on a burger later without any guilt.

Slowly we ventured into making regular brown rice, flavoring the cooking liquid with cardamon, cloves and what not. We got hooked onto the nutty taste, it tasted best with a gravy thing or with dal. We even graduated to having fish curry with Brown Rice. Yes, we have come a long way on the Brown Rice Trail.

We still continue having white rice though and haven't switched completely but weekends are always brown and so are most of the one pot rice meals.

Some weekends back D made a Tomato Rice. He used Brown Rice instead of the white rice that is normally used. He followed Sailaja's Recipe down to making the spice powder. It tasted beautiful.

Next day I made some to pack for lunch. I skipped the spice powder as I wanted a non-South Indian Tomato Rice. Instead I added some fresh home made Garam masala powder. That tasted great too.

And we had one more Brown Rice recipe that worked great for us. Are you afraid to try Indian dishes with Brown Rice, give it a try, you just might love it.

Baked Salmon er Kalia

This recipe is for SJ of A Pinch of Spice. Until she mentioned I did not even know that a dish called "Baked Salmon er Kalia" was titillating Bong palates up North-West. I knew the regular maacher kalia (or fish kalia) but this was salmon and that too baked. My local bong friends spoiled by the bangladeshi fish sellers abounding the east coast seldom cook salmon while entertaining and so such a nouveau dish had not found its way in their kitchen.

So I searched high and low, actually I just Googled and bam landed on this recipe. "So this is what it is", I thought, "almost like a regular kalia but the salmon has been marinated in spices and baked" ?

I still do not know the answer i.e. if this is the REAL "Baked Salmon er Kalia" or not. Only SJ can testify. Till then all I can say is this was a lovely salmon dish, just like a regular macher kalia but with salmon and we thoroughly enjoyed it with a bowl of brown rice. Big Sis S seems to have taken a liking for salmon and certain fish fillet, and this dish apparently earned her approval



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Baked Salmon Kalia

For 6-7 pieces of salmon fillet. Each piece roughly a square of 2" x 1.5"

Prep: Make a marinade of 2 -3 tbsp yogurt, 1/2 tsp of garlic paste, 1/2 tsp heaped of ginger paste, 1/4 tsp of R. Chilli Powder and salt. In a shallow flat bowl(or even a plate) put the fish pieces and pour the marinade over the fish. Put back in the refrigerator for 20-30 minutes

Grind 1/2 cup of chopped red onion + 1 fat clove of garlic + 2 green chilli(adjust according to your hot tolerance) to a fine paste

Start Cooking:

Drizzle a little olive oil and bake the salmon pieces for 20 minutes at 275F 350 F  After 20 minutes turn them over, sprinkle a little sugar and put in broil for next 5 minutes. Note: After suggestions by a friend I have been baking Salmon at a lower temp of 275F and the fish is much more moist and delicious. So i am updating this post with the new bake temperature.

To Make the Gravy:

Heat Oil in a kadhai or a heavy bottomed pan

Temper the oil with 1 large Bay leaf or 2 small tej patta(tej patta is usually smaller than bay leaf) + 4 Green Cardamom/Elaichi + 1/2 tsp of Whole Jeera/Cumin Seeds.

When the spices sputter add the onion + garlic paste

Fry for a couple of minutes with a sprinkle of sugar.

When the onion turns a nice reddish brown, add 1 tsp of fresh grated ginger + 1 small tomato finely chopped(try to get a nice juicy stem tomato and use only 1/2 of a large one)

Fry till you see the tomato turn into a pulp and there is no raw smell

To 1-2 tsp of yogurt add 1/2 tsp of Corriander powder + 1/2 tsp of Cumin Powder + 1/4 tsp of Red Chilli Powder + little Turmeric and make a paste. Here instead of yogurt you can make a paste in water also

Add this paste + salt to the Kadhai/Pan, turning the heat to low

Fry till you see the oil separate from the masala

Add about 1/2-1 cup of water and let the gravy come to a boil. You may need to add more water depending on the amount of gravy

Let the gravy simmer till it thickens. The gravy will have a smooth consistency.

You can pour the gravy over the baked fish and serve. Alternately add the baked fish to the gravy and let it simmer for 2-3 minutes. Garnish with chopped fresh corriander leaves and serve




My other Fish Kalia with Rui -- Maacher Kalia

Salmon in an Indian Chilli Fish

Besan Ka Cheela and Pepper Shrimp

We are done with 7 days of Challenge, woo hoo. Am I glad or what.

Saturday with all that fasting-shasting I was pretty crappy and so was the husband. We were spiteful and had huge rows. Low carb/sugar was showing its effects.

"But I feel lighter", I said to myself, "Maybe I have lost inches(or feet) if not pounds. If I lose my marriage so what, at least I will be thin"

And then came along dear N and made me re-read the rules again. As always I had just skimmed through the rules. I have been doing this since time immemorial. The only times I read and re-read the rules was during TOEFL and that because I thought I wouldn't understand Amriki accent over my headphone

Ok so as it goes I have broken errrr worked around several rules of the challenge. I had potatoes, honey with my yogurt and did no exercise

No wonder the husband was gladly gliding along until the fasting started.

Let me quickly sum up the pros of this process before I crib

* You feel much better about yourself
* All that eating right makes you feel a whole lot better. You do feel light believe me and may even lose pounds if you are strictly adhering to the rules. Actually the husband did lose noticeable inches as claimed by him.
* Remember the guilt after wolfing down a pizza. Well now you don't have any, neither pizza nor guilt
* You learn a whole new lesson on self-restraint and "giving up". If you continue you might achieve moksha soon

Things that did not quiet work for me

* We spent a whole lot of time cooking and packing lunches during the weekday. I was packing 3 dabbas each !!! This was definitely not good for me as I prefer spending weekday evening with my kids rather than in the kitchen. Maybe we also went overboard with the idea, but next time I plan to keep it even simpler

* Don't know why but since so much after-work time was spent in the kitchen that I didn't feel like going to gym at all. That would have cut into my time with the girls but Exercise would have helped

* No eating out on Weekends were tough, I am not going to do weekends next time. Such nice weather and yet we couldn't grab anything and had to be back home for dinner

* This challenge saw both of us(D & me) together in the kitchen a lot and by that I mean A LOT. Now this might be a total incentive for honey-baby-lovey-dovey kind of couples(with no disrespect meant to anyone). But for me this is a hindrance. I have known the husband for a loooong time now and don't feel the need to bond over how to grill salmon just right.
The hubby is a good cook and definitely a help in the kitchen but when he is in there I would rather spend my time with the baby who needs me more. Once the kids are older and can be in the kitchen too maybe we all can have coochie-coo Kitchen time.

On the whole the Challenge was worth it and I am going to do it maybe every alternate week or so. Take it up and feel good.

On Saturday after the fast I didn't want to settle down for anything less but cheela -- a savory gram flour pancake and some hot spicy pepper shrimp. The very thought of it pepped me up until I broke the fast an hour early. Lovely light besan ka cheela with the hot shrimp did heal bruised egos and rumbling appetites to some extent. The Pepper Shrimp is frameworked on Cham's Pepper Mushroom recipe which I altered around a bit to suit my convenience and loved a whole lot


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Besan Ka Cheela or Gram Flour Pancakes

Makes enough for 2(5-6 cheelas)

In a wide mouthed deep bowl add 1 cup of besan(chickpea flour) and fluff with a fork to break lumps if any and aerate

Make a batter with the above Besan + about 1/4 cup of finely chopped red onions + 3 finely chopped green chilli + 1/2 tsp of Carrom Seeds/Ajwain + 1/2 tsp of Cumin Seeds + little Asafoetida/Hing + salt. Add a little more than 1 cup of water slowly to make the batter.

Heat a flat tawa or frying pan.

Grease it with little oil

Pour a ladleful of batter and spread it out to make a circle. This step is same as you would do for dosa or pancake. Add less than 1/2 tsp of oil in droplets along the edges

When your spatula slids under the edges easily, flip the cheela and cook the other side

Pepper Shrimp

Defrost about 10-12 frozen shrimp. I used frozen raw shrimp, substitute with whatever kind you like. Sprinkle some sea salt on them and let them rest for 15-20 minutes.

Heat oil in a Kadhai/Frying Pan. A little more oil boosts the flavors in this dish

Add 5-6 Kari Patta(Curry Leaves) to the hot oil

Add 1/3 cup of chopped red onions and fry

Once the onion turns pink and translucent add 1 tsp of garlic paste

Add 1 tsp of Pepper Powder and saute for half a minute

Add the shrimp

Add 1/4 tsp of Red Chilli powder and 1/4 tsp of Fennel Powder

Add salt and fry the shrimp. You need to sprinkle a little water to bring the spices together and fry

Once the shrimp is cooked you are done. Don't cook shrimp for too long, it might get rubbery.

* If you are not a shrimp eater replace shrimp with mushroom and do not add any water while cooking. Also cook till all the water released by mushroom dries up