Umami Ketchup With A Hint Of Desi Heat

I’ve read a lot of definitions of umami, but somehow none of them completely describe my experience of it. For me, more than a taste, umami is a feeling: it is a kind of savouriness that makes the back of my jaw and throat feel a wee bit tight, my mouth salivate so intensely that I have to take a gulp and I feel my mind going into a zen mode where instead of ‘shivoham’, its saying a long breathless ‘mmmm’. And its all triggered by the first whiff. Actually, I am feeling it right this minute as I write this. Even the memory of it triggers this overwhelming feeling. Ufff! Do you feel it too?

Now, if only everything one eats could have this feeling. It’s tough, but what if one can add a lick of it to everything?

I did just that today with my sweet, sour and intensely savoury umami ketchup with a hint of desi heat. It was generously smeared over a floppy masala omelette I had for breakfast. After taking the photos, I smeared some of it on some plain toast. Later, I dipped a few crackers into it for a mid-morning snack and then a little later into a few spoons of rice for the most important meal between the mid-morning snack and lunch, the mid-mid-morning snack.

If you want to give your breakfast and mid-mid-morning snack a lick of this sauce, I’ve left recipe below. Bon Appétit!

 

Ingredients

• 800 grams, plump, ripe tomatoes (about 8 big red tomatoes)
• 6 plump pods of garlic
• 2 small onions
• 12 grams, porcini mushroom powder (if you don’t have this, I have a tip on how to use fresh button mushrooms instead)
• 4 tablespoons fish sauce
• 3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 2 tablespoons water
• 2 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 whole star anise, powdered
• 2 heavy pinches of red chilli powder
• 2 teaspoon oil

Directions

1. Set your oven to 140 C and let it pre-heat. While this is happening, line a sheet pan with some aluminium foil. Keeping 2 aside for later, halve the tomatoes and place them on the sheet pan. Scatter the 6 pods of garlic on the same pan. Season the tomatoes and garlic modestly with some salt and pepper. Next, pop the tray into the oven and forget about it for 2 hours. What you are trying to do is dehydrate the tomatoes to concentrate the umami flavours packed inside it without charring it. The same for the garlic. If the tomatoes or garlic begin to char, reduce the heat on your oven. What you are looking for are shrivelled up tomatoes and garlic pods that look half their original side.
2. Next, finely slice the onions and sauté them in some oil until they are caramelised. About 7 minutes.
3. Now in a blender, pop all the roasted tomatoes, the 2 tomatoes that you didn’t roast and reserved for later, garlic, porcini mushroom powder, caramelised onions, fish sauce, apple cider vinegar, water, brown sugar, black pepper, star anise powder, and red chilli powder. Blend it together until you get a smooth paste. Add more water to it if you need some liquid to help with the blending.
4. Pour all of the contents out into a pan over a medium flame and let it bubble together and reduce down to the thickness of ketchup. About 10 minutes.
5. Next, to get a smooth ketchup-y texture, pass the cooked sauce through a fine sieve. Remember to push as much sauce as you can using the back of a spatula. You can skip this step if you aren’t bothered by the slightly coarse texture of the sauce.
6. Bottle and use immediately or store in the refrigerator.

How to make Mushroom Powder using fresh button mushrooms:  To make 12 grams of mushroom powder, you’ll need 160 grams of button mushrooms. Wipe the mushrooms clean with a damp kitchen towel. Next slice them as thin as you possibly can. Place the sliced mushrooms on a sheet pan lined with parchment. The parchment prevents the precious slices from sticking to the pan. Make sure the mushroom slices aren’t overlapping. Pop the tray into the oven set at 140 C for about an hour or until the mushrooms have dehydrated and turned crisp. Cool and grind them to a powder. Voila, you have mushroom powder.

 

 

 

5 Fried Egg Recipes That Upgrade Your Fried Egg Game

If you love it, put an egg on it.

But what if you LOVE, ❤️, 😍 and 😘 eggs, what do you put on it?

Of course salt and pepper.

But is salt and pepper always enough for those plump, creamy yolks and lacy whites? I think not.

So are 5 fried egg toppings that up the game on salt and pepper. I think they deserve that.

 

1.

Spicy Green Chilli and Garlic Chutney Crumble over Fried Eggs

Ingredients

• 5 green chillies, crushed
• 15 fat pods of garlic, crushed
• 3 stems worth curry leaves
• 2 tablespoons peanuts, toasted for a minute or two
• 1 tablespoon sesame seeds, toasted for a minute
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon oil

Directions

1. In a nonstick pan warm the oil, and the garlic, curry leaves and green chillies on a low flame. Toss it until the garlic starts getting a slight colour on it, the chillies are blistered and the curry leaves crisp.
2. Empty the contents of the pan into a blender along with the toasted peanuts, sesame seeds and salt. Blend it well until you get a fine crumble. It might be a little pasty, but thats okay. Just make sure you scrape down the sides of the blender at least once during the blending process.
3. Empty the contents into a warm nonstick pan on a low flame. Toss it for a few minutes until the mixture looses some of its moisture and turns crumbly.
4. Once done, sprinkle generously over your eggs.

 

 

2.

Chilli Oil and Malt Vinegar Basted Fried Eggs

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1/4 teaspoon Kashmiri chilli powder
• 1 teaspoon malt vinegar or any vinegar you like
• Salt to taste
• 1 egg

Directions

1. In a warm pan on a medium low flame, heat the oil. Add in the Kashmiri chill powder and let it fry for a few seconds.
2. When the oil with the chilli powder starts bubbling, crack an egg into the oil and let the bottom set for a few seconds. Then tilt the pan so that the oil settles to one side of the pan. With a spoon, spoon over the chilli oil over the eggs making sure you drench it well in the hot oil. As soon as you achieve the doneness you want, pop the egg out into a plate and switch the flame off.
3. Now add the malt vinegar into the oil and mix well. Pour this mixture over the eggs and salt the egg generously.

 

 

3.

Bacon and Potato Chip Crumbs over Fried Eggs

Ingredients

• bacon and potato chip crumbs
• 1 rash of bacon
• 1 tablespoon of water
• 1 tablespoon of potato chips crumbs
• Pepper to taste

Directions

1. In a hot pan, pop in the bacon rash with the water. The water helps the bacon release its fat before the meat starts browning up. As the water evaporates, you’ll have enough fat in the pan to fry the bacon to a crisp. This should take about 3-4 minutes as you keep flipping it. Remember to keep the flame between medium low and low to avoid burning the bacon. Once done, drain it over paper towels and crumble it after it cools down.
2. Use the bacon fat to make your eggs.
3. Sprinkle bacon and potato chip crumbs generously over the eggs along with some freshly cracked black pepper. You should not have the need to add more salt, the bacon and potato chips have enough of that.

 

 

4.

Chillies Pickled in Fish Sauce over Fried Eggs

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoon fish sauce
• 2 teaspoon water
• 3 green chillies, finely diced
• 1 pod garlic, grated and fried in oil until golden brown

Directions

1. Mix all the ingredients together. You can use it immediately, but it gets better with time. I’d suggest keeping it in the refrigerator overnight, at the very least. This helps the flavours mingle.
2. Generously spoon the fish sauce and pickles chillies over your eggs and sprinkle some of the crisp fried garlic.

 

 

5.

Turmeric Curry Tadka Basted Fried Eggs

Ingredients

• 1 green chilli, finely diced
• 1 pod of garlic pod, finely diced
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
• 1 pinch coriander seed powder
• 1 pinch hing or asafoetida
• 1 tablespoon oil or ghee
• Salt to taste
• 1 egg

Directions

1. In a warm pan on a medium low flame, heat the oil. Add in the cumin seeds and let it fry for a few seconds until you see the oil beginning to bubble. Then add in the diced chillies, garlic, hing, coriander seed powder and turmeric powder. Let this fry for about a minute.
2. Crack an egg into the oil and let the bottom set for a few seconds. Then tilt the pan so that the oil settles to one side of the pan. With a spoon, spoon over flavoured oil over the eggs making sure you drench it in the hot oil. As soon as it achieves the doneness you want, pop the egg out into a plate and sprinkle salt to taste.

 

 

Pssst: what are the toppings that you like over your fried eggs? Would love to read your comments.

Pecan, Cacao Nibs and Butter Roasted Puffed Rice Ladoos, Cookies and Bars or Murmura Ladoo with Swag

I’ve never got the craze around energy and granola bars. They all tend to feel so heavy and always sooo unsatisfying.

Yesterday I had one that was especially bad. And that got me thinking about the energy bar, rather energy ball from my childhood, the murmura ladoo or puffed rice ladoo. Intensely caramelised and crisp, these always felt light and 100% satisfying. I loved the one’s my nani’s guy in Jamshedpur used to make. Hot off the pan in one corner of Bistupur Market I would devour a couple of them in one go (read 5).

This morning I took inspiration from those classic energy balls from my childhood and gave it a little swag with pecan, cacao nibs and butter roasted puffed rice. It goes brilliantly with a cup of hot black coffee. And just as the classic, always light, but these are 110% more satisfying.

Give these make ahead balls, bars and cookies a go. They take not more than 25 minutes to make.

Pecan, Cacao Nibs and Butter Roasted Puffed Rice Ladoos, Cookies and Bars

• Servings: 9 ladoos or cookies or 5 bars
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Ingredients

• 30 grams Puffed Rice
• 40 grams Pecan Nuts or whatever nut you fancy, broken into small pieces
• 2 tablespoons Butter
• 10 grams Cacao Nibs
• 60 grams Jaggery, shaved or grated
• 2 tablespoons Water
• 2 tablespoons Chocolate Sprinkles

Directions

1. In a high walled non-stick pan melt some butter. As soon as it stops bubbling pop the puffed rice and pecan nuts in. Roast them on a low flame until the puffed rice takes on a brownish tinge and is intensely crisp. until you get to that point, remember to constantly stir the mixture in the pot. Once done, reserve for later.
2. Set the same pan back on a low flame again, pop in the shaved or grated jaggery along with the water. Give it a good stir making sure the jaggery melts completely in the water. Once this is done strain the water and jaggery mixture. This way you get all the impurities out of the jaggery.
3. Pour the strained jaggery and water mixture back into the pan. Now for the next 8-10 minutes keep stirring the mixture over a low flame. What you are trying to achieve is an intensely caramelised mixture that achieves a hard ball state. Now how to get to that? What I do is after the 5 minute mark, every now and then, I drop a drop of hot jaggery into a bowl of cold water. If it dissolves, it’s not there yet. If it dissolves a little and coats the bottom of the bowl lightly, it’s not there yet. If it doesn’t dissolve, but forms a soft sphere when you press it together with your fingers in the water, you are getting very close. If it doesn’t dissolve and forms a sphere in the water that’s hard like candy, you are there. Immediately switch off the flame and pop the mixture of roasted pecan nuts and puffed rice along with the cacao nibs and give it a vigorous stir. Make sure all the ingredients are coated well with the caramelised jaggery.
4. Now with slightly wet hands take 2 teaspoons of the mixture and roll it between you palms to make a ladoo. Press the ladoo to form a cookie. Or take 4 teaspoons of the mixture and roll it into a log over a chopping board to make bars.
5. Once all these are done, sprinkle some chocolate sprinkles on top and press it on so that they don’t budge.
6. Keep in an air tight container for later or devour immediately. They are yum when they are still warm.

 

Sauce Gribiche on Butter Fried Toast, a cure for the Monday morning blues

Can butter, mustard and a few boiled eggs solve a Monday?! Maybe not, but these could if they were in this butter fried toast topped with my version of Sauce Gribiche; a classic French sauce made with boiled eggs that can also be an egg salad. Yes, the butter fried toast feels excessive, but to cure the blues one has to call in the big guns.

Sauce Gribiche on Butter Fried Toast

• Servings: 2
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Ingredients

For the Sauce Gribiche:

• 5 hard boiled eggs, roughly chopped
• 3 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• 3 teaspoons of your favourite salad vinegar
• 6 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon fennel seeds, ground
• 1/2 teaspoon red chilli powder
• 3 teaspoons gherkins, roughly chopped
• 3 teaspoons capers, drained
• 2 teaspoons coriander leaves, roughly chopped
• Salt and pepper to taste

For the Butter fried Toast:

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 thick cut sourdough bread, or any bread you prefer

Directions

1. Mix together the Dijon mustard, the vinegar, and extra virgin olive oil to make the vinaigrette for the sauce.
2. Add in the fennel seeds, chilli powder and mix well.
3. Now mix in the capers, some cracked pepper, the chopped eggs, gherkins, and coriander leaves.
4. Check the salt before you add any to it.
5. Serve over hot toast that’s been fried in a pan until it’s brown and crisp on both sides. I’m going to let you decide how much butter you want to use, I used 2 tablespoons for 2 slices of bread.

 

Nepalese Sel Roti or the channel for your inner Jackson Pollock

Is there anything more satisfying than having something deep fried, crisp and sweet in the mornings?! Probably not. But there is one thing that is a balm to me, and thats the Nepalese doughnut called Sel Roti. Its super light, super crisp, and mildly sweet and more than that, its so much fun to make and shape. The more talented Nepalese makers of Sel Roti might call my skill in forming the doughnut like rings, amateurish. But I tend to channel my inner Jackson Pollock as I drop the banana, rice, cardamom and butter dough into bubbling hot oil. It’s purrrfect.

If you feel your inner Jackson Pollock is calling out to you at breakfast for something deep fried, crisp and sweet, give this one a go. They say Sel Rotis lasts forever, but these won’t and you’d kick yourself for not doubling the quantities I’m going to be telling you.

 

Nepalese Sel Roti

• Servings: 2-3
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Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups rice, washed & soaked overnight
• 1 banana, ripe as ripe can be
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 pod cardamom
• 1/3 cup butter, melted
• 2 tablespooms rice flour
• Water as needed
• Oil to deep fry

Directions

1. In a blender add in the soaked rice (without any water), the banana, sugar, cardamom, melted butter, rice flour and give it whirl for a few minutes. What you are looking for is a smooth batter with the consistency of a thick, but light cake like batter. If it’s still quite thick, then add 1 tablespoon of water at a time and let the blender go. If it’s too runny, then add 1 tablespoon of rice flour.
2. Once you’ve got the cake batter like consistency, pour the whole lot into one of those resealable kitchen bag you have.
3. Now pour enough oil in your pan until you reach half way to the top. Let the oil get nice and hot on a medium low flame (you’ll need to operate between a medium and medium low flame while frying these rotis so as to get a nice crisp golden brown outside and cooked all the way through inside)
4. Once your oil feels hot enough, snip one of the corners of your resealable kitchen bag and use it as a piping bag to drop the dough into the hot oil. Make whatever shapes you fancy. As these fry, remember to turn them over so that both sides are nice and golden brown.
5. Serve these hot if you can, but they are just as good at room temperature too.

 

Spicy Thai Egg White and Holy Basil Scrambled Eggs

There are two things I hate more than anything: one, egg white scrambled eggs or omelettes. It’s just so pointless, tasteless and rubbery without the yolks. Why would anyone steal that away from their omelette or scrambled eggs?!?? But this morning I had 4 eggs worth of egg whites in the refrigerator staring at me. They were leftovers from batch of lemon curd I had made the other day. That’s where the second thing I dislike comes into play; I hate wasting or throwing away good food. It makes me feel sick in the stomach. So in desperation, to save these 4 egg whites, and add some interest, favour and joy into them I tried something that was a complete delight.

The Spicy Thai Egg White and Holy Basil Scrambled Eggs takes inspiration from the Thai Pad Kra-Pao Gai or stir fried chicken with holy basil (or tulsi). If you have egg whites lying around or a tulsi plant that needs pruning or if you just want to breakout of the monotony of regular everyday omelettes, scrambled eggs and bhurji, give this a try. Its packed full of bold and delicate flavours and ready before you know it.

 

• Servings: 1
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Ingredients

• 4 egg whites
• 3 teaspoons garlic, crushed to a pulp in a motar and pestle
• 1 teaspoon birds eye chillies, crushed in a motar and pestle (use regular green chillies if you can’t find birds eye chillies)
• 2 birds eye chillies or regular green chillies, sliced crosswise
• 20 grams holy basil or tulsi, no stems, just the leaves. Soak it in water and rinse thrice to get all the soil and dirt out (you’ll find tulsi leaves at your local florist or phoolwalla who makes flower garlands)
• 1 teaspoon fish sauce (skip it if you don’t like fish sauce, just remember to add salt to taste)
• 1 teaspoon jaggery
• 1 teaspoon soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon water

Directions

1. In a hot non-stick pan heat a teaspoon of oil. Whip the whites together with a pinch of salt and make a light scrambled egg. It should still be soft and not cooked all the way. Reserve for later.
2. In the same pan add one teaspoon oil and set it over a low flame. Add the crushed garlic and chillies. Gently fry these until it’s fragrant. Don’t let it brown. Now add in the scrambled eggs and stir the garlic and chillies in.
3. Now up the flame to a medium. Add in the fish sauce, jaggery, soy sauce and water. Mix well for a minute or until the sauces get incorporated into the eggs.
4. Now turn off the heat and add in the holy basil or tulsi leaves and give it a good stir . The leave will wilt a little as they add their subtle flavour to the eggs.
5. Adjust the salt with more fish sauce or salt, if needed.
6. Serve it immediately. It goes really well with a buttered pao, bun and steamed rice.

Recipe tweak to make Pad Kra-Pao Gai or Stir fried Chicken with Holy Basil: replace the eggs with 50 grams of boneless chicken, preferably thigh meat and add in 2 more tablespoons of water to help the chicken cook through. Add the holy basil in the end once the chicken is cooked through just as this recipe. It’s so simple to make and hugely flavourful. Goes amazingly well with sticky rice and a fried egg on top.