Steamed Pumpkin Custard with Chia seeds

Pumpkins have always fascinated me. Growing up in farmer household, Pumpkins was a major part of our diet. We ate it as Erissery or Pachadi or even with dried fish. It was always cooked with Coconut or Yogurt but never with sugar or Jaggery.

When I told my husband that I bought a small Pumpkin and that I was planning to make a soup with it, he suggested to look for recipes for Thailand steamed Pumpkin dessert. It involves a lot of creamy coconut milk and eggs, even the thought makes me drool. But I am the sort of person who cooks with what is in the kitchen . I am too lazy to go out and buy Coconut milk.

So I have modified the version to use milk and eggs instead of Coconut milk.
It turned out pretty awesome, so here it is.

Ingredients:

Milk - 1 cups ( you can use milk and cream in 1:1 ratio )
eggs - 2
Sugar - quarter cup or to suit your taste
Cardamom powder - of one Cardamom
Rice flour - 1 tablespoon
Chia seeds - 1 tablespoon
Pumpkin(small) - 1

First prepare the Pumpkin. Make a Circular cut on the top of the Pumpkin near the stalk and carefully remove the lid. Scrape off the seeds and threads of the Pumpkin with a spoon.
Blend all the ingredients except Chia seeds  and Pumpkin in a  blender till the sugar dissolves. Add Chia seeds and pour into the prepared Pumpkin shell.
Pour the egg milk mixture into the Pumpkin shell and steam for 1 hour or till the custard solidifies.
Remove and refrigerate.
Slice and serve with or without Caramel sauce.

Enjoy.

Grilled Corn Salad with Orange Soy dressing

Corn is one of my all time favorites. I can eat it anytime, anywhere.  Yesterday I bought the coloured Corn from the market and decided to make a grilled corn salad to go with the vegetable theme I have been following this week

I honestly believe and try to make people believe that food is at the best when very little is done to them. So I rubbed the Corn with some salt and grilled it till it charred. Why did I rub it with salt, I dont know. That is how I do it.

Just look at that, all that sweetness with the slight bitterness of the charred skin.

Then I chopped some Cucumber, Scallion and Tomatoes. I made a dressing with lemon juice, orange juice, a pinch of sugar, Olive oil and a Soy sauce.

When the Corn cooled down slightly, I chopped off the kernels and mixed it with the chopped vegetables. I also added some Amaranth leaves.

Heaped them on a plate and drizzled with the dressing.

Enjoy.

Marinated Tofu with Chilli sauce

It takes some time to love Tofu and once you do, it is very versatile. I have tried many cooking methods with Tofu  and I can honestly say that this is a very simple and easy way to treat Tofu.

We need about.

250 gms firm Tofu
juice of 2 lemons
2 tablespoon sugar
4 tablespoon apple vinegar
1 table spoon rice vinegar
1 tablespoon chopped chillies
salt to taste
Chilli sauce to serve

Mix everything except Tofu and chilli sauce and stir till the sugar dissolves. Steam the Tofu and when cold, cut Tofu into cubes and marinate Tofu in the lemon juice mixture. Refrigerate in an airtight container for at least a day.

To serve steam or blanch seasonal vegetables. Remove Tofu cubes from the marinate and top with chilli sauce. Serve and enjoy.

Fried Pork Wonton , Zha Yuntun

There were times when the after school tea time consisted mainly of fried delicacies like Banana fritters (Vazhakkayappam), Lentils fritters, Unniyappam, Sukhiyan etc.

Making these are tiresome . Preparation must start hours before you actually make these snacks, by soaking the lentils , grinding them or fermenting the dough. I am a confessed lazy cook and would always go for the easy method to make equally delicious snacks.

Fried Wontons are easy to make. One you make a batch, you can freeze them on a tray and store in ziplock bags for later use. How convenient life has become.
Filling and folding Wontons store hidden pleasures. Though I am the laziest person in the whole whole world, I can totally sit down some place and go on folding Wontons for a long time. Especially if  Yesudas or Brahmanandan sings in the background.

Ingredients for Fried Wonton:

50 Wonton wrappers, store bought or made
250 gms ground Pork
1 spring Onion,chopped
1 teaspoon chopped ginger
1 teaspoon chopped garlic
1 teaspoon chopped chilies
half a teaspoon dark soy
salt to taste
Oil for frying

Combine everything except Wonton wrappers and frying oil in a bowl. Mix it with a fork till it forms a paste.
Set aside for a few minutes.
Before filling, dust a tray with flour and keep near you. Take a wrapper and place a spoonful of filling in the centre. Fold to form a triangle, pressing well near the filling. Put a drop of water on one of the side arms. Bring the other arm over and press firmly to seal. Place on the dusted tray and cover with a tea towel.
Proceed to fill all the Wontons.
You can freeze the filled and folded Wontons on a tray. Once frozen place desired numbers in Ziplock bags. Will keep for three months. When needed, remove from freezer , defrost and can be steamed, boiled or fried.

Heat the oil in a frying pan. When the oil is hot, drop Wontons and deep fry them till crispy.
Serve with a sweet and sour sauce or Chilli sauce.

Roses are red and eggs are blue

I have seen pictures of bright pink eggs  pickled in Beets and wanted to make some for a long time. Beetroot is not a regular vegetable in Shanghai and I really don't feel like spending 50 dollars at the City shop for half a kilo of Beetroot.

Given the circumstances, we can all adapt. And I attempted to pickle the egg in Purple sweet potato, which is soon becoming a personal favorite.

I first cooked a Purple sweet Potato in water, drained but reserved the cooking liquid. The cooking liquid was deep Purple in color.  I put the shelled hard boiled eggs in the colored liquid and set it aside for 2 hours.
And I got a blue egg to fancy.
Cut the eggs in half and remove the yolks. In a separate bowl, mash the yolk with chopped onions, salt and pepper. Fill the cavities with the yolk and enjoy-

Spicy cold noodles with shredded chicken

This recipe is adapted from a fabulous lady named Fuschia Dunlop. She travelled all around China collecting regional recipes and have written many cookbooks. I cant wait to get hold of some of her cookbooks.

I used fresh noodles to make this dish, but it can also be made with dry noodles. If you are using dried noodles, follow the packet instructions to cook the noodles. Then rinse it in cold water and drain. Add half a teaspoon of sesame oil and mix it to the noodles to prevent it from sticking to one another.

fresh noodles - 500 gms
oil - 1 tablespoon
bean sprout or enoki mushrooms               - 100 gms
bamboo shoots, chopped - 100gms
cooked and shredded chicken - 100 gms

Seasoning
sesame paste - 2 tablespoon
dark soy sauce - half a teaspoon
light soy sauce - half a teaspoon
rice vinegar - 1 tablespoon
sugar - half a teaspoon
chopped garlic - 1 teaspoon
Chilli oil - 1 teaspoon
fried groundnuts -  1 tablespoon
sichuan pepper, ground - half a teaspoon
sesame oil - 1 teaspoon

Cook the noodles in salted boiling water. Rinse in cold water and drain. Add half the sesame oil and mix it well to prevent sticking.
Blanch the bamboo shoots, bean sprouts and enoki mushrooms .
Mix together the vegetables,chicken and noodles .
In a small bowl, mix together all the ingredients for seasoning.
Place heaps of noodles into a serving bowl, drizzle with seasoning and enjoy.

Soy Braised Pork Belly

Pork belly is good to eat and good to look at. I buy my Pork from a small butchery run by a smiling young lady and her smiling young man. Every time I go there, they always try to chat to me , of course , in Chinese. I chat with them in English. Actually I shouldn't bother talking to them in English, I should talk in Malayalam. I don't think it makes any difference to them.

For the Soy braised Pork belly we need :

Dark soy sauce - 1 tablespoon
Light soy sauce - 1 tablespoon
Rice vinegar - 1 tablespoon
Star Anise - 3
Cinnamon or Cassia bark - 2 rolls /2 pieces
Cloves - half a teaspoon
Garlic,chopped- 1 tablespoon
Ginger , chopped - 1 tablespoon
Pork belly cut into pieces - 500 gm

First I prepped the Pork belly by plunging it in boiling water. All the blood and those yucky things can be removed by this prep. Drain after two minutes of boiling and wash under running water. The Pork belly is now prepped for braising.

Pour 3 litres of water into a large sauce pan. Add all the spices and the prepped pork belly and boil for 1 hour. Check often and add water if it comes dangerously low. By the end of the cooking time, the Pork will be coated with a glaze. Taste and add more salt if you need . There is enough salt in the soy sauce, so I didn't add more salt, but feel free to if your salt cravings are more.