CAULIFLOWER- LYCHEE CURRY WITH CURRY LEAVES RECIPE. CAULIFLOWER WHITE CURRY WITH LYCHEES RECIPE

SPECIAL GUEST POST BY PURABI NAHA, NEW TERRITORY, HONG KIONG
This Guest Post , will also be published on the same day in Purabi Naha’s blog
.http://cosmopolitancurrymania.blogspot.com
-Her article "Legacy of the Royal Indian Biryani" (with recipes in her blog) was originally published in the International food magazine called Zomppa in June 2011

-Winner of the Food Frenzy Blogstew challenge for June awards

I knew Purabi Naha at the Ambreen awards. On my first visit to her blog, her impressive looking citrus-zest fried rice, makes me feel that Purabi has put her recipe the best looking and most appetising fried rice in culinary.
Thereafter, she published an exquisite West Bengal recipe- the Mughlai Kheema Paratha,- which is paratha stuffed with aromatic spicy mutton kheema (minced meat of a male goat) filling, topped with eggs, marinated onions and chili.
This is a traditional royal side dish recipe, to none other than the Mughal kings of the bygone empire ! Do go visit Mughal kitchen at Purabi’s. Here is the Link to Mughlai kheema paratha :
http://cosmopolitancurrymania.blogspot.com/2011/06/mughlai-kheema-paratha.html

CAULIFLOWER- LYCHEE CURRY WITH CURRY LEAVES RECIPE
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This is my second guest post and this time it is for my friend Wan Maznah from Malaysia, having her amazingblog called Cooking-Varieties. I am so happy and excited to write this guest post for her wonderful blog! When you visit her blog, you will see an amazing variety of scrumptious dishes, explained in an easy and interesting manner.

When Maznah approached me to write for her blog, I decided to share this wonderful South-Indian-style cauliflower curry, but with a twist. Since I wanted to break the monotony of a regular cauliflower curry, I decided to add a handful of fresh, juicy lychees (inspired by the Thai Cuisine, where lychees are added to curries with coconut milk in them, and they taste divine!) to the coconut-milk-smeared curry with the aromatic curry leaves and mustard seeds in them, topped with lime juice.


This is a white curry, so no turmeric powder is added to this dish. As you read on, you will see for yourself the wonderful balance of the amounts of each ingredient in this non-spicy dish, imparting a magical taste at the end. This Indo-Thai-inspired curry turned out to be heavenly! Don’t believe it? I bet you will

Ingredients:
Medium-sized cauliflower (cut into medium-sized florets): 1
Potato (big, cut into medium-sized cubes): 1
Whole lychees (peeled): 12
Tomato paste: ½ cup
Onion paste: ½ cup
Ginger paste: 1 tbsp
Mustard seeds: ½ tsp
Curry leaves (extra for garnishing): 12
Coconut milk: 1 cup
Red chillies (whole): 3
Water: ½ cup
Salt (divided): 2 tsp
Sugar: ½ tsp
Lime juice: 1 tbsp
Oil (divided): 7 tbsp

Method of preparation:

The first step is to shallow-fry the cauliflower florets in 3 tbsp oil and ½ tsp salt, till they are light-brown-tanned and soft, yet firm. One should cover the wok while frying and stir the content from time to time, sprinkling a little water. This helps the cauliflower to get soft faster, while they get fried. On a medium flame, this takes about 15 min. Keep the fried cauliflower aside.

Repeat the process with potatoes, but with 2 tbsp oil and ½ tsp salt. After 15 min, check the softness of the potatoes with the end of a kitchen spoon: these should break on applying a little pressure. Keep the fried potatoes aside.

Add 2 tbsp oil to the wok and let it smoke. Add the mustard seeds and let it sputter (on a medium flame). Add the curry leaves.

Add the onion paste immediately and stir. After 2 min, add the garlic and tomato pastes, along with the remaining salt and sugar. Stir continuously till the paste is cooked (i.e., till you feel that the water in the paste has almost evaporated) and oil starts leaving from the paste

Add the fried cauliflower and the potatoes and smear the paste with them very well. Continue to mix and stir over a medium flame for 5 min.

Now add the red chillies, lychees and coconut milk. Mix well.

Add water and cover. Simmer for 15 min. Switch off the gas. Add the lime juice and mix well. Garnish with a few fresh curry leaves.

MY SPECIAL THANK YOU TO PURABI NAHA FOR HER WILLINGNESS TO DO THIS GUEST POST ON CAULIFLOWER-LYCHEE CURRY WITH CURRY LEAVES.
COSMOPOLITAN CURRY MANIA- An endeavor to infuse Indian taste into the global palate
URL / Link: http://cosmopolitancurrymania.blogspot.com       Banner at side bar

Sicilian cheeses: la vastedda del Belice

Do you know what is the so-called "vastedda del Belice"? It's a local exquisite cheese coming from the area of Belice, in the province of Agrigento.

The vastedda, which is the only "pasta filata cheese" (or stretched cheese) is made from sheep and has an ivory color. In the past it was produced only in Summer (from May to October) but now you find it all year round. The experts used to produce it in summer to try to recuperate the pecorino cheeses that had come out with some defects. Infact the name itself in Sicilian dialect vasta or vastedda means wrong, gone bad.


Basically these pecorini were stretched at high temperature, creating a new kind of oval-shaped cheese that was perfect to be eaten fresh in few days and it was extremely tasty too! Farmers started to eat it with bread and tomatoes at their lunch break in the fields. Nowadays this local cheese is a POD and is produced in the provinces of Agrigento, Palermo and Trapani. 

VANILLA YOGURT SMOOTHIES RECIPE. THE TRAVELLER IN WHITE SMOOTHIES RECIPE

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VANILLA YOGURT SMOOTHIES RECIPE.
THE TRAVELLER IN WHITE SMOOTHIES RECIPE
THE HEALTH BENEFITS OF BLUEBERRIES
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FROM COOKING VARIETIES FOOD  "WHITE ART COLLECTION".

Ingredients:: 
A scoop each of vanilla and strawberry ice cream, plain yogurt, 1/2 glass of milk and
blueberry fruits,as in FOOD ART IMAGE above:

THE HEALTH BENEFITS OF BLUEBERRIES:
Amongst the numerous health benefits of blueberries are listed in the FOOD ART IMAGE below:

From the Sicilian food "Pasta alla Norma" to "La Norma" opera

I couldn't tell you about Pasta alla Norma without posting Casta Diva, the most famous aria of Vincenzo Bellini's masterpiece, La Norma, here sung by Maria Callas.

I hope you can appreciate it as much as I did, because I think that music is just as sublime as food. Enjoy!

"Pasta alla Norma", what's the story of this incredible dish?

Do you know how to make pasta alla Norma? And what is the story of this Sicilian dish? The pasta alla Norma is originally from Catania, the second bigger city in Sicily and is dedicated, just as the name suggests, at the famous opera lirica LA NORMA composed in 1831 by Vincenzo Bellini, a musician from Catania.

I have actually heard two different stories about this dish: the first one says that the name of the dish was given by a playwright Nino Martoglio, also from Catania. He was comparing the goodness of the pasta with the opera lirica and exclaimed: This is a Norma! (meaning as goos as the Norma...)

Second story is that while writing this masterpiece Vincenzo Bellini used to go to a restaurant and ordered always this dish of pasta, so the owner finally name it after his opera to homage Bellini. Besides, it is said that at those times the dish had a very special presentation: it was like a mountain-shaped plate of pasta with eggplants/aubergine at the bottom, all cut in pieces or slices and then on top the tomato sauce with grated salted ricotta covering everything. It was a very creative representation of the Mount Etna with its land, lava and snow.

Making the Norma is very easy if you have the right ingredients. For 6 people you will need:

600 gr maccheroni or spaghetti

500 ml tomato sauce

olive oil

grated salted ricotta

basil

salt
aromas (cinnamon, nutmeg)

2 eggplants or aubergines

Preparation:

In Sicily we have two varieties of eggplants or aubergines: the oval ones and the rounded ones. These last ones (the pic on the right) are the best and the most used in the kitchen because of their sweeter delicate taste. We call them "tunisine" which means Tunisian, allegedly because they used to come from there.
1. When we use eggplants/aubergine we cut them in slices or dices, depending on the dish we are gonna make and then we place them on a colander with abundant salt and leave it aside for about 15 minutes. My mother taught me since I was a kid that this is good for giving eggplants/aubergines a sweeter taste and letting release the bitter they contain. After that you just have to wash them under running water and they are ready to be cooked.

2. Second step is frying. In a pan put some olive oil and start frying your eggplants until they become slightly brown on both sides (not black!). For this dish you can either do slices or cubes, it doesn't really matter!

3. Prepare pasta as you normally do, boiling it in salted water. While pasta is cooking put some tomato sauce in a sauce pan with some fresh basil and adjust with salt, sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg to make it more parfumed.

4. As soon as pasta is drained cover it with the tomato sauce and the eggplants/aubergines and grate on top the salted ricotta or instead, if you don't have it, some parmisan cheese. It will still be delicious and you will just ask for more.

*In some families they also like to add some mozzarella cheese in cubes before serving the pasta. They mix all the ingredients together in the pan and then serve with the mozzarella still thready. It is just an addition to the original recipe, but I swear they are both unforgettable. Enjoy!

Thanks to my friend Giuseppe for sending me the picture of his lovely pasta alla Norma!

Design A Cuisine Corporate Cooking with Emerson Team

Chef Yogesh Arora strut his stuff a la holistic style yet again during a corporate event with the Emerson Team. On Tuesday (21/6/2011), Design A Cuisine got cooking with the group and whipped up some tantalising mains and side dishes like spiced potatoes, eggplant and rice. The professionals had a jolly good time as they learnt how simple healthy changes they could make in their diets for better overall health.

Design A Cuisine conducts on going cooking classes in collaboration with Palate Sensations, as well as at our place. Contact us at info@designacuisine.com for information and queries. Do be sure sure to catch our holistic Indian cuisine at Royal Plaza on Scott's during 1 to 10th July 2011.

Solstice Picnic

Hi out there! I hope everyone enjoyed the Solstice yesterday and (if you're in the northern hemisphere) are looking forward to the summer season. I know I am...among other things, I can't wait for local summer fruits and berries to start popping up in the markets.

Yesterday couldn't have been a more perfect day for the first day of summer around here: 78 degrees, sunny, blue sky and puffy clouds. Originally, split pea soup was on the menu for dinner last night, but as I was out for a ride on my bike,  it struck me that spilt pea soup seemed incongruous with the summery nature of the day. Instead we decided to pack a picnic...and although the pics might lead you think that we ended up on a sail boat...alas no, we headed to a nearby park that overlooks the city...lovely just the same.

Sail boats, and boaters in general, were out in full force enjoying the evening breeze, lots and lots of other picnickers too.

I didn't have a lot of time to get the food together so I just made a quick salad of bulgur wheat with parsley, red onion, cucumber and tomato, dressed with lemon juice, black pepper and olive oil. I also tossed some cherry tomatoes with fresh basil, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, and black pepper, boiled some corn on the cob, and to round it all off, picked up some falafel at Whole Foods. With some olives, lemon-tahini sauce, and lemon wedges it was a perfect picnic affair. I also made some garlic crostini (not pictured) and of course we had a bottle of wine.

Oh, and we had a fruit salad, blueberries, Maui Gold pineapple, and a few strawberries from the garden:

Those Maui Golds are the best...if you run across some, I recommend giving them a try. I snap them up regularly when they're in the markets around here.

We stayed until sundown...

... and well past:

Happy Summer!

FISH FRIKKADEL RECIPE. STEAK FRIKKADEL RECIPE FROM SOUTH AFRICA

THE CAPE MALAY AFRICA FRIKKADEL RECIPE

Rawiyah is a university student from South Africa. I knew her since end April through Ana Luiza and only in June, i realised that she is a malay cape. I am a malay too, a majority race in Malaysia.
 If not for the Guest post, I may never discover her identity. Being from the same roots, it is a really wonderful news to me. You are always welcome to cooking-varieties Rawiyah and privileged to do as many Guest posts as you like, be they recipes or of your own blog niche :).

She loves teaching and imparting knowledge to others and i know she is also an ardent lover of English literature.
Do visit her at     http://www.missplaced-e.blogspot.com

THE FRIKKADEL RECIPE BY RAWIYAH

Rawiyah is my pen name, and I am a Humanitarian who wants to see the world and learn new languages. I am currently buying inner peace at the cost of love, smiles and small sacrifices…

Maznah’s blog is a social networking site all by itself, linking people from around the globe who have a shared interest in the arts and culture. Since I was invited to do a guest post (let us consider it a forthcoming attraction for now... : it’s a web threaded together with all the flavours and foods of the cooks of the world, and I am quite pleased to be a part of this/ …Rawiyah

THE CAPE MALAYS OF SOUTH  AFRICA
The Cape Malays are an ethnic group in South Africa, whose ancestry is mostly Malaysian, Indonesian, Dutch, English (and a host of many other nationalities). Their cooking is inspired by Dutch (or Afrikaner) cooking, but the recipes have been altered to the extent that they often taste and look completely different. They are Muslims, and so all their food is halaal/ kosher.

The Cape Malay Frikkadel is much like the Malaysian Begedil (see a picture of it on Balqis’s blog here http://lilstarrz09.blogspot.com/2011/05/yummy-licious.html), except it’s made from steak mince and not beef. Sometimes Frikkadel is made with fish, using either Tuna, Hake, Salmon, or Snoek (a large fish that is indigenous to Cape Town). ... Rawiyah


Frikkadel is either oven-baked or fried (the baked one is usually spicier).

OVEN-BAKED FRIKKADELò
MINCE FRIKKADEL RECIPE:

Ingredients:
1 Kg mince (rinsed and drained)
1 large onion (chopped)
½ green pepper
1 medium sized tomato
1 egg (or more, depending on the size)
7-8 slices of bread soaked in water and drained
1 tblspn garlic
Black pepper
1-2 chillies
Salt to taste
Nutmeg (optional)

                                                                 SNOEKñ IMAGE
Method:
1. Mix everything together in a bowl
2. Rinse your hands (don’t dry it!)
3. Form meatballs between the palms of your hands, in the same way that you would
shape a ball from clay.
4. Heat oil in a frying pan on medium heat.

5. Place the frikkadel into the pan and allow the one side to brown.
6. Turn over and allow the other side to cook through.
7. Serve :)

ñTraditional Cape Malay homes in Bo-Kaap, called the Cape Malay Quarter ( image above).
Many thanks to Rawiyah for the guest post/
 URL link is at my sidebar.

PUMPKIN CAKE RECIPE. A WINTER SQUASH CAKE RECIPE

A SPECIAL GUEST POST BY
NAVANEETHAM KRISHNAN (Nava-K)
http://www.nava-k.com/

Nava blogs on LIFE AND STYLE: Food and Cooking,  Fashion and Beauty,  Food ventures, Travel, Entertainment, Features and Current Affairs
from Kota Kemuning, Selangor, Malaysia
PUMPKIN CAKE. A  WINTER SQUASH CAKE
 
You don't need great baking skills to make this pumpkin cake as its just about getting the ingredients, mixing and folding in only.
The cake is moist, crumbly and slightly sweet as I am not into really sweet desserts. I left the cake in the fridge once cool and done with the baking for the texture to be harden. This means that when you slice the cake, it will not crumble.
 If you don't like the cake to be chilled, then scoop while its crumbly and served on a cocktail glass or small serving plate with a spoon.


Ingredients:
400g pumpkin - remove skin and cubed
1/2 cup self-raising flour
20g butter (melted)
30g icing sugar
2 tbpp white sugar (for topping)
1 egg
1 1/2 tbsp vanilla essence
2 tbsp dried raisins (blackcurrant will also do)

Method:
Boil the pumpkin with enough water (abt 2 cups) until soft and the water dries up.
Remove and mash it.
Once cool, add the flour bit by bit inside the pumpkin and stir in with a spatula.
In a mixing bowl, whisk the egg, icing sugar, butter and vanilla essence.
Now, slowly pour into the pumpkin batter and fold in.
Lastly, fold in the raisins.
Lightly grease a baking tray and add the batter in.
Sprinkle the 2 tbsp of white sugar on top.
Bake at 200c for about 40 min or until the sugar on top becomes a thick harden layer.
Remove and once cooled, gently slice..

My special thank you to Nava-k for trying out to bake a cake using winter squash or pumpkin.. she said " Malaysia CAN ! ! " visit her at    http://www.nava-k.com/

Valerie - simple & natural portrait

Kora , another boring blogger entries !  Yes I know it's boring :p

Last week went to Shangri-la Tanjung Aru Resort aka "Beach Hotel" in Kota Kinabalu slang,

 with a few friends including Valerie.
So my friend decided to shoot her while I'm just shooting her natural movement.
Very simple photos, so please don't mind them. 

Only these lah. I know I need to improve a lot on composition. :( 

Hope I will do better next time, and hopefully there is next time.

Shots above just with a puny AF Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D only :)

Mint-flavored potato salads, a delicious summer side dish

Do you know how to prepare a lovely fresh side dish with mint-flavored potatoes that taste like Summer? Easy. Just keep on reading :)

Sorry for not posting anything in the past weeks but all of a sudden my digital camera decided to die, so I had (and still have) several problems in making pictures.

The dish I am talking about today is inevitably tied to summer memories back in my childhood and especially to my Grandma: nonna Nuccia, so I wanted to render homage to her with this picture.

In july and august we used to live all together in a big country house and we all prepared something for dinner or helped mum and grandma in cooking. The mint-flavored potato salads was a typical dish she liked to prepare and eat as well. Very easy and tasty, perfect for a light summer meal.

Recipe for 6 people:

1 kg potatoes

a small bunch of fresh mint

2-3 cloves of garlic

extra virgin olive oil

vinegar

salt

black pepper

First wash the potatoes under running water then boil them in salted water inside a large casserole.

In the meantime prepare a kind of marinate in a bowl with the olive oil, salt, black pepper as you like, some vinegar, the fresh mint thinly chopped and the garlic cut in thick slices (you don't have to eat it but at least would perfume the dish together with the mint and will make a difference!)


Try the potatoes with a fork, when they are cooked (careful not to overcook them!) drain and let them cool about half an hour, then remove the skin and cut them in pieces, placing them in the bowl with the marinate and mixing well with the oil and the other ingredients together. They have to stay in the fridge at least a couple of hours before being served because they must have time to season and become tasty at their best. Then your palate will enjoy this lovely combination of freshness and goodness!


I like this side dish not only because of my memories but also because is perfect when you are desperate and don't know what to cook. Everyone always love potatoes, and if you want to prepare them in a light Mediterrenean style.... this is definetely the perfect way!!!

SOOJI ka HALWA RECIPE. SEMOLINA HALVA RECIPE – AND BLOGGERS AWARDS GIVEAWAYS

WITH GREAT PLEASURE AND SPEECHLESS IN BETWEENS, I WOULD LIKE TO MAKE A VERY SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT.
In my 8 months of blogging,. I am suddenly being showered with 10 BLOGGER AWARDS, all at once from my dearest friend, Ambreen, an extraordinaire chef blogger from Pakistan.

Each of the awards are to be given away to 15 deserving recipients. Thanks Ambreen for putting me at number 4 in your list….i am most flattered, considering that we have only known each other, for 3 weeks.

Ambreen, you are like the wind that blew and never misses it’s target, you inspire my moods and moved my energy to excel in the blogging world. I will always look at your awards as…… ‘The inspirational winds of change and culinary companions on the road” ... from a very respectable and adorable lady.


HERE IS A VERY SPECIAL RECIPE FROM AMBREEN FOR ALL OF US
Do visit her Pakistani traditional cuisines too: http://www.simplysweetnsavory.blogspot.com
SOOJI ka HALWA (SEMOLINA HALVA) –
A PAKISTANI TRADITIONAL BREAKFAST 

Sooji ka Halwa ( Semolina Halva ) ... The word 'Halva' comes from the Arabic word 'Halwa' ; meaning sweet or candy. Semolina Halva is made from semolina, ghee and sugar, garnished with dried fruits and nuts. It is an easy & quick dessert.'Halwa Puri Cholay' is Pakistani Traditional Breakfast. It is also prepared on special Islamic occasions; sometimes served with Naan. Enjoy it with Puris, Naan or just with a spoon :)

Sooji ka Halwa ( Semolina Halva )
Prep. Time : 5 minutes
* Cook Time : 10 minutes
* Serves : 10 – 12
Ingredients :
• 1/2 cup ghee (clarified butter)

• 1 cup semolina

• 1 1/2 cups sugar (according to taste)

• 3 cups water

• Pinch of saffron strands ( soaked in 1 tbsp. hot milk) / yellow or red food color

• 1/2 cup mixed dry fruits { Almonds / Pistachio ( blanched & sliced ) + Raisins + Coconut ( thinly sliced )}

• 4-5 green cardamoms ( seeds only )

Method :

• Heat 2 tbsp of ghee in a wide pan or wok.

• Add semolina and fry on low heat until it turns golden in color and gives a nice aroma of roasting semolina.

• Remove from the pan and keep aside.

• Heat remaining ghee in the same pan, add cardamom seeds & fry for few seconds. 
• Add sugar, soaked saffron / food color & water and cook on medium heat until sugar is   dissolved.

• Add half quantity of the nuts; cook for 2-3 minutes.

• Add semolina and cook, stirring frequently, for 4 -5 minutes ( make sure there are no lumps ).

• When the mixture starts to become thick and begins to come off the pan, take it out in a serving platter.

• Garnish with remaining nuts. Serve hot.
 Below are the 10 awards and their images . Thank you (CV art)

#1 is not an award            Award    # 2 and  3

Award  # 4, 5 and 6

Award # 7, 8 and 9

Award # 10 and 11

Here are the rules of the awards:
1. Accept the award, post it in your blog with the link of the person who has given you.

2. Pass it on to 15 other bloggers to keep the ball rolling.

3. Let the nominated bloggers know about their award ( by leaving a comment on their recent post ).
cooking varieties said: i will notify you via comments or messages on the award that i am going to offer to you. I will give you the liberty to choose which award(s) is most suitable for you.
The image  above is grouped to lessen space taken. You may pick any one/ all  in each  group.
However foodie awards are meant for foodie bloggers only.
 Ambreen     http://www.simplysweetnsavory.blogspot.com 

from cv           http://www.cooking-varieties.blogspot.com

1.     SOOJI KA HALWA RECIPE Page 2 of about 319,000 search Page 2 # 9- google listing  from 19 june 2011

1.     SEMOLINA HALVA RECIPE Page 2 of about 88,100 results  Page 2 # 1