Pan Fried Tofu and English Muffin with Chivda Crisp Mix- When East meets West

This recipe, I owe it to my dear daughter. As she is very fond of having her burgers with potato chips- salty and crunchy bites, which she ardently puts in between her chicken patties and burger buns. She herself started eating burgers made this way, when she saw one of her primary school friend spicing up her mundane school lunches with potato crisps, while we were living in UK.
Both kids had their ways to spice up their burgers. Sometimes  even with French fries layered in between. Sometimes with Thousand Island dressing, sometimes with mayonnaise or Ranch dressing and cheddar slices etc but 'Potato chips' also known as potato crisp over there, wins hands down for both of them.

 I know this seems like a circle, and that is how recipes evolve. Although both kids used to love non-vegetarian meals like with chicken burger, this is my attempt to make it little healthy and vegetarian.

I have used sesame oil to pan fry Tofu. I have also used iron skillet to pan-fry tofu instead of normal coated pans.And I must admit, sesame oil imparts a lovely taste to the overall product. I dint go for potato chips, I had my favourite snack – that famous Chivda crisp mix snack you get in packets in India with peanuts, raisins, cashews and corn flakes-‘chivda-crisp mix’ adds the crunch to this burger/muffin recipe.In Bengal while I was staying in Kolkata , I even had with 'Mukhorochak'.

 English muffin is a staple bread in UK and many use it as breakfast bread with jams, marmalade, bacon, ham and cheddarcheese as well. If you don’t get English muffin, then you can also replace it with normal burger buns. I have blogged about a nice home-made bread recipe way back here - Whole-wheat burger .You can make your own burger bun as well. I have omitted mayonnaise to make it  even more lighter. The layering is such a work of joy, olive oil spread, lettuce, pan fried tofu and tomatoes, perfect blend of sweetness, crunchiness and protein.

Here to the recipe

Pan fried tofu with English muffin and Chivda-Crisp mix

Recipe requirements

• 3-4 whole meal English muffin
• 200 Gms of tofu cut into flat square pieces
• 2-3 tsp of sesame oil for pan frying
• ½ tsp of red pepper powder
• Salt as per taste
• 3-4 tbs of Mayonnaise/Olive oil spread
•  3-4 tsp of sesame oil 
• 1-2 tomato cut into slices
• Lettuce leaves

Method
Cut Tofu Pieces and sprinkle red pepper powder and salt over them.Keep aside for 10 mints.
Heat up an iron skillet for pan frying the Tofu pieces. Add in about 1-2 tsp of sesame oil. Now pan-fry the tofu pieces just to get a nice golden-brown layer.

Now assemble English muffin
Cut the bread into half.

Spread olive oil soft spread over English Muffins.

Now place tomato slices, lettuce leaves and pan fried tofu pieces well stacked over one another.

Add in about a handful of Chivda- crisp Mix or spicy corn mix and cover it with another half of English muffin bread. You can add Mayonnaise in place of olive oil spread.
This is a vegetarian version.You can skip Tofu and Olive Oil Spread altogether and replace it with chicken patties or lamb patties and Mayo.Keema Kabab are also nice variations.

Internet reference:

I just love when few fellow bloggers also think like us and writes about it too here-  Finely Chopped..

Happy Cooking Friends and have a great weekend.

Tofu Palak Ki Sabzi- Tofu with Spinach

We have been cooking with tofu a lot these days and Tofu Palak ki Sabzi is another way of preparing tofu. You all can say Indian influence on tofu. Tofu is high in protein and is extracted from soybean milk just like our paneer which is extracted from cow milk. This recipe resembles with our very own Paneer Palak except for paneer we have used tofu. We have used super firm tofu for this preparation which is a denser variety of tofu.

Here to the recipe

Tofu Palak ki sabzi – Tofu with Spinach puree

Recipe requirements

•  2 whole bunch of spinach leaves approx. 400 Gms
• Tofu approx. 400gm
•  5-6 fat cloves of garlic
•  2 medium size onion
• ½ inch ginger root
• 1 large size tomato

For Tempering and seasoning 

• 1 tsp of turmeric powder
•  2 tsp of red pepper powder
•  2 tsp of coriander powder
• ½ tsp of cumin powder
• ½ tsp of cardamom powder
• ½ tsp of cinnamon powder
•  1 tsp of salt or as per taste
• 2 tsp of sugar
• 3-4 dry red chillies
• 1 tsp of cumin seeds
• 5-6 tbs of mustard oil
• 1 tsp of ghee

Method

• Clean spinach leaves properly in water. Discard the root tip and chop spinach leaves roughly.
• Blanch spinach leaves in little water. Reserve the water that came out after blanching spinach leaves.
• Heat up a fry pan, add 4 tbs of mustard oil, and add in cumin seeds, dry red chillies.
• Now add in finely chopped onion, ginger, tomato and chopped garlic into it.
• Keep on stir/fry for about 8-10 mints at medium high flame.
• Now add in turmeric powder, red pepper powder, coriander powder, cumin powder and salt. Add in cinnamon, cardamom powder and sugar as well. Sprinkle little bit of water and keep on stir/fry.
• Add in blanched spinach leaves as well. Coat well with spices. Let it cook covered for about 8-10 mints.
• Take this fried masala and spinach out and pulse through a grinder to get a smooth ‘spinach masala paste’.
• Add in about 2 tbs of mustard oil in a fry pan.
• Now add in the above prepared ‘spinach masala paste’
• Add in cubed tofu pieces and mix well with spices.
• Add in 1 cup of water and the water that you reserved to use, after spinach blanching.Cover and cook for 10-15 mints at med-low flame.
• Add in ghee or butter at the end.
• Take out and serve. Enjoy with rotis or rice whatever way you prefer eating.

Happy Cooking Friends and have a great week ahead...

Of This and That - Some Musings

This will be my last post for 2016… It’s raining heavily outside, sitting down with my laptop on our dining table, occasionally I glance through my balcony doors to look far ahead, but the visibility is zero. I made a glass of chilled iced lemon tea for myself...Music playing in the back ground, you know those ageless and soul-soothing old Hindi songs – like one from film ‘Anupama’. December makes me feel cold inside, although the temperatures outside will defy all things winter has to offer here. There is nothing as such a typical ‘winter’ in Malaysia – rain and sun-shine all through the year. How I longed for the coldness, winter has to offer and the white snow clad houses and streets, is a forlorn story here.

But even in those scarcity of true feelings for winter, we created a space in our heart which made us believe, yes believe, that these last few days of 2016, this festive spirit will linger on. We have put up a Christmas tree just like we used to do in UK. 

Warming up our cold hearts, this tree reminded us to believe in everything about life- whatever the challenges, obstacles one may face, believe in yourself – this will pass through. We have made it so far, hopefully we will keep doing so in future as well. In all those challenges, we should not forget about all the blessings which god has bestowed us all. Pause for a moment, take out time from your busy schedules and please count all those blessings. The true spirit of festivals lies there.

The shopping malls are all decked up and busy here with beautiful Christmas decorations and huge Christmas trees and people shopping for their near and dear ones. We usually sit down on those numerous benches inside shopping malls and watch the world go by leisurely. 

There will be people shopping on the likes of Gucci/Prada/MK / Miss Selfridge/ Topshop/Zara and what not, in those numerous shopping malls, during these last few days before Christmas. But to me Christmas, or for that matter any festival, is all about togetherness of family and friends. Gifts are just add-on like cherry on top of an assembled black-forest cake.

Couple of days back, we had a long weekend, so, dear daughter called up her few friends from our residential-complex and had a mini-Christmas snack party. 

The home was filled with the warmth of their girlie-chat, laughter and fun. Time flies and even before I realize, these girls all in pre-teen age are ready to create their own stories, just like we did decades ago.

Since these are holiday time, I thought instead of doing a recipe post, a proper menu post will be more helpful.

The snack- menu had chocolate cupcakes, cucumber and mozzarella cheese sandwich, baked chicken drumsticks and roasted spiced potato wedges with plenty of cold drinks.

There was another platter which we had on Sunday - roasted potato and orange sweet potato, tofu fried rice, baked spicy salmon steak and California rolls (this one is a type of  'Sushi'- store-brought though)…And there was plenty of litchi mock tail as refreshments.

Recipe for Oven- Baked Salmon Steak

Requirements

Salmon steak pieces- 4-5

Spices

½ tsp of turmeric powder

2 tsp of red pepper powder

 2 tsp of coriander powder

1 tsp of cumin powder

½ tsp of cardamom powder

½ tsp of cinnamon powder

 1 tsp of black pepper powder

Salt as per taste

Method

Take all the spices in a big bowl and mix in well.

Now rub spices all over the salmon steak pieces.

Cover and keep it in fridge for about half an hour.

Now preheat an oven at 175 deg C.

Place the salmon steak pieces over a baking tray and put that in the middle rack.

Bake for 30-35 mints. Take out serve hot. These are absolutely delicious.

Roasted spiced potato wedges have the same spices as listed above. The only addition was mustard oil and chili flakes to marinate them well.Bake the potato wedges at 180 Deg C for 40 mints.

Cucumber Mozzarella sandwich- Layer thinly sliced cucumber over buttered sandwich bread and then top it up with grated fresh mozzarella cheese or cheese slices. Press the sandwich and viola ready in jiffy.You can use tomato as well.Tomato and Mozzarella is another great combination.

Tofu Fried Rice

Requirements

 3-4 cups of cooked rice- for 3-4 people
you can use brown rice as well

 200 Gms of extra firm tofu

2 tsp of thick soya sauce

1 tsp of oyster sauce

1 tsp of red pepper powder

1 tsp of black pepper powder

 3 tsp of grated fresh ginger
 1 stick lemon grass

 3-4 tsp of soybean oil/ or sesame oil

Method

In a big wok/fry pan, add in oil. Add in firm tofu pieces and fry them at high heat for about 3-4 mints.

Take out and keep in a separate plate.

Add in grated ginger, cut lemon grass  and any vegetables you would like to add- I have used carrots and tomato finely chopped. Toss well and cook at high heat for 3-4 mints.

Add in all the sauces and spices listed above. Adjust salt.

Add in fried tofu and coat well with spices and sauces.

Now add in cooked rice and mix well. Serve and enjoy.

These recipes can be found in archived posts here…

Nutella-and-chocolate-cupcakes

Baked Chicken - Kalmi Kabab style

Oven-baked chicken-tikka

Some other Christmas recipes

Couscous-and-dried-fruits-stuffed Chicken

Chocolate Swiss-roll-recipe

Apple fritters with toffee-sauce

Black forest cake

Cheesecake recipe

So, here is the end part for this post.

You all have a great festive time.

Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas and have a Happy new year …….

See you all in new year 2017…Welcome 2017....bye –bye 2016…..

Singapore style Beehun/Bihun/Angel hair rice Vermicelli - Fried rice vermicelli with Tofu and Bok Choy

When we were kids, we sometimes used to lie down on green grass and watched the clouds floats by. We still do like it, even we are way past our childhood days, but with time crunch, it’s not something very frequent these days. Some will say huh! Who does that, kids not grown-ups like us, to that I would say it’s good to be a kid sometimes, to recall back all the innocence that we have lost in this maddening world of materialistic values.

When I see kids these days, hooked on to social media, and connecting with friends through smart-phones, I feel, as if we are somehow losing it out to technology, where is that innocence these days? And the problem is either you are in, or completely out, and with tremendous amount of peer pressure to fit in. Not all diagrams point to circles, some can be square as well. Then why put things into symmetric pigeon –holes.

Not all silly things makes us silly, you silly! …That’s what, my Ma told me once. And I couldn’t apprehend what she meant with that. Now that, I am myself a mother, I know what she meant.

We still catch up our cloud floating sessions sometimes, in spite of hectic schedules. Let’s see how long we will be able to do things like this in coming future as well.

Fried bihun, I happened to taste it for first time when one of my Malaysian friend in London made it for me, and with shrimps, we really liked the taste. The thin rice vermicelli soaked the flavours of soya sauce well and prawns were juicy, and soft. The noodles were light and flavourful.

Bihun/beehun is rice vermicelli in Malaysia, so when I tasted Singapore style Bihun in one of our local restaurant here, I thought to make it again in comfy of my home. As of now, I don’t think Singapore style noodles is popular in Singapore itself. But there, most of them know it as Fried Bihun/Beehun or fried rice vermicelli.

Well this is a great accompaniment with all sorts of curries and other sautéed vegetables. This is how we like to make it.

Singapore style Beehun/Bihun – Fried rice vermicelli with Tofu and Bok Choy

Recipe requirements (Serves 2-3)

150-200 g of thin rice vermicelli /Beehun/Bihun/angel hair vermicelli

3-4 tbs of cooking oil

2-3 garlic pods

1 medium size onion

300 gms of firm tofu cut into cubes

2-3 Bok choy bundles or about 8-10 small Bok Choy

1 medium size carrots

 3-4 Thai red chillies slit in between

2 free range eggs (optional)

6-7 fried shrimps (optional)

For the sauce

2-3 tsp of thick soya sauce

 1tsp of light soya sauce

2-3 tsp of hot chilli sauce

Salt as per taste

Method

Soak rice vermicelli or also known as bee hun/ bihun in water for about 20 mints or till they turn soft.

Chop and cut all the vegetables finely preferably in thin juliennes.

Now add in 2 tbs of cooking oil in a fry pan, add in eggs and fry well. Take them out in a separate plate.

Now add in reserved bit of cooking oil and stir/fry garlic and then onions.

Now add rest of the chopped vegetables- carrots,chilies,  bok choy etc.

In a mixing bowl- mix in hot chilies sauce and soya sauce and salt.

Now add this sauce to the above fried mixture of vegetables.

Add in soaked  and soft bihun/rice vermicelli.

Mix in with a spatula gently and garnish with fried eggs or shrimps.You can substitute Tofu with paneer cubes.

Singapore style bihun is ready to be served.

Today is Shubh Mahalaya , after this Navaratri starts.

Wish you all Shubh Mahalaya and Festive greetings.

Pan Fried Tofu with Ong Choi/Kolmi shak

Getting to know a new place takes time, more if you are not familiar with the local language. But that doesn’t mean, I shy away from interacting with local people over here. As my solo outings means most of the time grocery shopping for the family. One of those many outings, one day I was intrigued to a corner shop where there was hordes of people queuing to purchase something or probably many things. I thought since its holy Ramadan month over here, there must be something happening which I am not aware of. And as I went near, I saw myriad display of assorted, coloured and exotic little square blocks, stocked neatly besides each other. And as I saw those little beauties, the cook inside me, replied, here you go sweets and more sweets for you. I had no idea what exactly they are called, how they are made etc .So, I asked a graceful local Malay lady and with broken English she told me these are various assortments of sweets – ‘Malaysian Kuih’, also that they are called ‘Binga Ubi Kyu’ and ‘Tepung Pelita’ as that is what, I later choose to buy. She went to finish her grocery after that, even before I could thank her for her time and effort. And while I waited for my turn to pick sweets, another lady standing behind me in queue, who till now was a silent listener, took over, and told me how some of them are made, and if those sweets have eggs or not etc. Now after I have tasted those sweets, especially the coconut milk one- ‘Tepung Pelita’, I am craving more for them. I will leave the exact process of making it for some other day as that requires another detailed post.

As of now it’s stir/fried  Tofu with Ung Choi.I have used hard pressed tofu for this recipe, as I wanted tofu to be bit chunky.You can make it with normal tofu as well, but it will scatter through once the stir/fry is done.Ung Choi is Kolmi shak in Bengali. A nice and light cooked tofu with ung choi is very healthy and makes a great side-dish with warm cooked rice as well.

Now to the recipe

 Pan fried Tofu with Kolmi Shak/Ong choi

Recipe requirements-

About 500 gms – Ong choi/ kolmi saag –

250 gms of cubed hard tofu pieces or 2 cups of tofu pieces.

 1 medium size onion

 1 tsp of red pepper powder

½ tsp of turmeric powder

For tempering

1 tsp of panch phoron/ or nigella seeds

2 dry red chillies

3-4 tsp of cooking oil/mustard oil

 Salt as per taste

Method

Wash ung choi /kolmi shak thoroughly well in running water to get rid of any dirt or mud.From the bottom side, discard 2 inch of the stem. Cut the leaves with tender stem finely. Again wash them well in water to make sure the dirt or mud is not present.

Take out hard pressed tofu, discard water if any and make cubes out of the block.

Heat up a fry pan/ kadai .Add in cooking oil. Add in panch phoron , dry red chillies and temper the oil.Or if you are using nigella seeds /kalo jeerey then you can temper it with also.

Add in finely chopped onion.

Add in chopped ung choi/ kolmi shak and fry well or till they shrink and release some water.

Add in spices- red pepper powder, turmeric powder and salt, pinch of sugar.

Add in cubed hard pressed tofu and stir/fry it very gently. Do not try to move them frequently otherwise they will start to break. We need firm cubed pieces.

Cover the pan and lower the flame. Cook further for about 7-8 mints or till the leaves turn soft. One last stir very gently with the spatula and its ready to eat.

Serve with gram bhaat.

You can add freshly grounded cumin+ coriander powder as well for some extra flavour.

Another archived post for Ong Choi recipe here - Kolmi shak bhaja

Happy Cooking