Fresh Fruit with Chaat Masala

28/04/201328/04/2013 Moya5 Comments

It has taken me a little longer to get around to posting again since returning from my trip to India. This trip was a little different from the usual family holidays… an all girls road trip from Delhi to Agra, Jaipur and Udaipur! We squeezed so much in with lots of sightseeing and visited some truly amazing and memorable places, like the Taj Mahal, Amber Fort, Askshardham Temple and City Palaces, words to describe what you see visually I will leave to the writers and poets of the world! The other side of the coin is that there are families and people in living conditions and surroundings that are less than basic and at times left you feeling a heavy sense of sadness…!

Indian food was on the menu every evening and we had some delicious dining experiences, the most memorable was at the Rambagh Palace Hotel in Jaipur where most of us ate the Rajasthani thali, sampling a variety of dishes from the region. Choosing more wisely at breakfast each morning, I ate some of my favourite fruits, papaya, bananas and pineapple. So, it seems fitting to include a very simple recipe and easy my way back into posting… with a little spice!

Fruit Chaat is a very popular street food in India, fresh fruit served with a mix of spices called chaat masala, giving the fruit a sweet, sour and spicy taste. Chaat masala is also used in salads like this easy cucumber salad and some savoury dishes like Aloo chaat, a savoury potato dish.

There are many recipes for chaat masala and the only ingredient I could not find was mango powder (amchoor) as it was out of stock, so I bought some dried pomegranate seeds instead. The packaged version of chaat masala contained black salt (kala namak) which gave a very sulfurous eggy taste to this spice mix and was not something I liked with the fruit. However, this post on black salt may change my mind, when I get around to trying some with fried potatoes! Fruit chaat could be served as a light starter before an Indian dish like Dal Makhani, a very popular lentil dish.

With a little experimenting I wanted a simpler version of this spice blend, the packet version had 19 ingredients! Lulu hypermarkets in Bahrain stock a range of spice mixes and of course not forgetting the spices from the Manama souk. If chaat masala seems a little much to start sprinkling over your fruit, try mixing a little black pepper with some chilli powder or just keep it plain and simple… lime juice and fresh mint.

Chaat Masala

Ingredients:

1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
1 teaspoon dried pomegranate seeds
2 teaspoon whole coriander seeds or cumin
1/2 teaspoon ajowan seeds
a pinch of Himalayan salt or sea salt
1/4 teaspoon of ground Kashmiri chilli

for the fruit salad

1 papaya, peeled and cut into cubes
1 pineapple, skin removed and cut into pieces
3 bananas, peeled and sliced
4 small limes, juiced (more to taste)
a handful of chopped fresh mint leaves

How to make: Use a pestle and mortar and ground together the black peppercorns, dried pomegranate seeds, coriander seeds or cumin, ajowan seeds and a pinch of Himalayan or sea salt into a fine powder, mix in the Kashmiri chilli. Store the spice mix in a small container until needed.

Place the prepared fruit into a bowl, pour over the lime juice and add the mint, gently mix until combined. Place into a serving bowl or individual dishes and scatter over some chaat masala. Serve immediately. Serves 4 to 6.

Note: The papaya and pineapple can be prepared in advance but leave the bananas before serving as they discolor quickly when sliced.

appetizers · posts

Olives, Walnuts and Pomegranate – Zeytoon Parvaradeh

08/03/201309/03/2013 Moya4 Comments

When I get my hands on a new cookbook I cant wait to flick and read through the book, picking up information about ingredients and recipes, reading stories about the author and learning bits of history related to the cuisine! Also, feasting my eyes on the mouth-watering photographs before heading into the kitchen to try out some new recipes… the tasty part!

Some months ago the cosy Words Bookstore and Café hosted a book signing by the lovely Ariana Bundy, promoting her new cookbook Pomegranates and Roses! I am not familiar with Persian cooking so it was a wonderful opportunity to meet Ariana herself and get a signed copy of her cookbook, to learn more about this very colourful cuisine! In fact it was only a couple of months earlier that Suzanne Husseini visited Words Bookstore and Café for her cookbook signing … another lovely cookbook!

To whet the appetite, Ariana demonstrated two delicious recipes from her Pomegranates and Roses cookbook, Zeytoon Parvaradeh, an olive, walnut and pomegranate appetizer and Mast O Khaiar, a cold yoghurt soup garnished with dried rose petals … both mouth-watering recipes, full of flavour and easy to prepare! Since then, I have made Zeytoon Parvaradeh on a few occasions, nibbled on some sweet Goosheh Feel and used some of the Ekhlas dates from the freezer for Omeletteh Khorma for breakfast and made Joojeh Kabab for a barbecue! There are many recipes that I want to try from this cookbook and I am sure there will be no complaints from the family!

While demonstrating Zeytoon Parvaradeh Ariana did mention that Persian pomegranate molasses/paste is the preferred brand with her recipes! The pomegranate molasses that I use is much thicker and has a more tart taste, so I guess it is finding a brand that has a good balance between sweet and sour! Maybe adding a little honey or lemon juice to a recipe, to balance the sweet and sour where needed! Thank you Ariana for letting me take the rest of pomegranate paste home and as promised I have prepared your recipe!

The recipe for Zeytoon Parvaradeh has been adapted, with the addition of garlic and a drizzle of vanilla olive oil on top before serving! I used the Spanish Manazilla olives as suggested but used a sweet Basil (had some in the garden) instead of Asian Basil! Used a mini food processor to blend all the ingredients together, rather than a pestle and mortar to crush the olives! I came across some lovely lemon mint at a farmers market recently, which I will try when I next make this recipe!

As an appetizer for a dinner party, serve Zeytoon Parvaradeh in individual dishes, alongside thin slices of lightly toasted French bread or water crackers! Or, place everything in a serving bowl and let everyone tuck in!

Zeytoon Parvaradeh

Recipe adapted from the Pomegranates and Roses cookbook by Ariana Bundy.

Ingredients:

125g stoned Manzanilla olives
25g shelled walnuts
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons pomegranate molasses
6 fresh mint leaves
6 fresh basil leaves
1 garlic clove, peeled and crushed (optional)

for garnish

pomegranate seeds
4 olives
4 fresh mint leaves
homemade vanilla olive oil, to drizzle (optional)

How to make: Reserve 4 olives for the garnish, then add the remaining olives, walnuts, extra-virgin olive oil, pomegranate molasses, mint, basil and garlic to a small processor and blitz for a few seconds, scrape down the sides of the bowl and blitz again until mixture is very finely chopped. Place the olive mixture into a bowl and leave the flavour to develop for a couple of hours or overnight before serving. Place the olive mixture into individual serving dishes and garnish with whole olives, pomegranate seeds, mint leaf and a drizzle of vanilla olive oil on top, if using. Serves 4.

appetizers · food + drink

Edamame Beans with Vanilla Sea Salt

12/01/201312/05/2013 Moya8 Comments

New years resolutions are not something I make but I like to think that over the next twelve months I will build on past experiences (good and bad) of each year and keep moving forward! These past few weeks have been busy, with lots of cooking, eating and entertaining, so I am quite happy (at times) when the easiest meal of all (not necessarily the quickest) is only a phone call away!

In fact, living in Bahrain with so many eateries offering a variety of cuisines (dine in or take-out) you would never have to set foot inside the kitchen again… perish the thought! I would miss putting all my pots, appliances and kitchen jewellery to good use, cooking, entertaining, food photograph and styling… the kitchen is the hub of our home!

There are always a few essentials in the freezer and although it is looking rather empty at the moment, I still have a few bags of edamame beans stashed inside! In Japanese “eda” means “twig” and “mame” means “bean,” also known as twig beans or hairy beans… but I think edamame sound better! The bean inside is actually a un-ripened soya bean, which is highly nutritious, rich in protein and has all the essential amino acids. High in fiber the edamame bean makes a healthy filling snack and only takes minutes to prepare! Take edamame beans to work when hunger strikes, put them into kids lunch boxes (minus the salt), serve them as an easy pre dinner appetizer or just sit and enjoy a bowlful yourself!

Natural sea salt (no table salt here) is usually the typical condiment for serving with edamame beans and I like to posh that up a little by using some of the home-made vanilla salt from the store cupboard! The vanilla salt adds a subtle sweetness but of course you can just use plain sea salt or no salt if watching your salt intake! The only problem with the edamame bean… they are so moorish!

Actually I was wonder how easy edamame beans are to grow and it seems that we might have the perfect climate, sunny and humid… now maybe I might order a few packets of edamame seeds! If I do then I will surely let you know how I get on! Maybe some enthusiastic farmer could start growing some edamame beans and sell them at the farmers market here in Bahrain!

How to cook edamame beans: Steam the required amount of edamame beans for about three minutes. Place into serving bowls or bowl and sprinkle over some vanilla sea salt or plain sea salt, if desired. To eat hold the pod and simple pop the beans into your mouth, you will also taste the salt, the pods are not edible so discard them into an empty dish!

Up-date: Since writing this post I have received my packets of edamame beans and hope to plant them after the summer months, Bahrain is so hot during this time. Will keep you posted when I do plant them and hopefully have some Edamame success!