Friday, October 31, 2008

Oh Soy!

I saw this show on T.V. a while ago teaching you how to make soy milk and tofu at home without any fancy gadgets.

I was so fascinated by its ease that I bought 2kg of soy beans that very day. It was simple, you were supposed to soak the beans in water overnight and blend them with water the next day. After that you simply needed to push it through a cheesecloth and presto! Soy Milk!

You could boil that Soy milk with a little coagulant and voila! tofu! I did it for two days in a row, smug as ever about my great achievement. And then that evening my ego deflated.. big time. I fell ill. Got a disgusting nauseous feeling and I knew it had to be the tofu.

I did not want anything to do with tofu or soy milk for weeks. And then I read this article on Bryanna's Blog. She clearly mentioned two critical things:1. Soak the beans in boiling water and 2. Boil the milk for about a half hour!

So the reason for the naueseousness was undercooked soy milk!
So I did it again.. only this time I did it right! wow I feel great! the tofu tasted even better than before and no nauseous feeling this time!


What I did:

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took 2 cups of soy beans and soaked them in boiling water over night


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next morning this is what happened; the beans just blew up!



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Then I had to grind them first with a little water and then more water till I got this thick paste.. which I pushed through a cheesecloth, and that lovely amber liquid is the Soy Milk!



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I had to wind the cheesecloth several times and completely squeeze out the soy milk till this is how the husk looked; completely dry. If you don't feel like throwing this away, don't! u can always use this as a replacement of soy protein in dishes.. but remember to cook for at least 1/2 an hour, because I learned the hard way, you don't need to do that :)


You boil the lovely amber colored soy milk till it almost boils over on a high flame. Then reduce the flame to low and cook for about a half an hour, stir frequently. Turn off the flame.


When the milk is a little cool, turn on the heat again and add about 2-3 teaspoons of vinegar and see if it starts breaking up.. if it does, you don't need to add more if it doesn't, add more!
Push this through a cheesecloth and place in a colander and weigh down with any heavy object.



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Once dry ease away from the cheesecloth, and behold! Tofu!

You can stop reading here and do you own thing with the tofu. You can store it in the refrigerator in a little water and be sure to change the water everyday. But if you want to know what I did with it.. read on!

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I sliced them up.. it is a bit crumbly. I put some rice flour in a bowl and mixed it with a bit of salt and oregano and dipped the pieces of tofu in it.


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and fried them. The reason I dipped them in rice flour is because it gives a wonderful crisp coating and at the same time rice flour absorbs less oil than wheat flour.


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Drain them on paper towels.. OK I cheated. I coated pieces of cottage cheese with the same flour and flied them after I fried the tofu. Can u guess which is what?


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These taste great with any kind of sauce. You can eat them just this way or do what I did above, stir fry them with veggies and any stir fry sauce! YUM!

What a day!

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Huevos Rancheros



I love Mexican food. The spices, colors and textures are quite similar to Indian food and that's why the ingredients are quite easy to find in my kitchen.


What I love is the liberal use of tomatoes which gives so much body to every dish.

I Made this great Mexican style breakfast dish today with a few modifications.


What you need: (serves 1)

2 med. sized tomatoes; peeled and finely chopped

1/2 an onion, chopped finely

1 green chili; finely chopped

1-2 cloves of garlic; peeled and chopped

1/4 tsp dried basil

1/4 a green bell pepper; finely diced

1/2 tsp of red chili powder

1/8 tsp of cumin seeds

2 tsp of tomato ketchup

1 egg

Salt to taste


What to do:

1.On a med-high flame, Pour a bit of olive oil in a wok and stir fry the onions,green chili, pepper and garlic for a bit put in the cumin seeds. Let it soften.

2. Add the tomatoes, basil, ketchup, red chili powder and salt and let it roast for a bit.

3. Cover and cook on a low flame for 10 min or so till soft and thick.

4. Put the sauce in a plate and top with a fried egg.


So that's all! I had mine with a nice refreshing glass of OJ. what a way to start the day. :)

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

'Tang'y Fruit Salad


I'm on this whole health food kick.

I love eating fruit salad not only because its nutritious and all that, but because it is delicious especially when its made with the freshest seasonal fruits you can find. But what I look for in a fruit salad is the individual taste of every fruit and I hate when the fruit salad is so over 'tossed' that it tastes like one big bowl of fruit puree.

I don't believe in making something simple like fruit salad overly calorific by dressing it with any kind of rich dressing. But I have a trick that makes the most brilliant fruit salad while keeping it simple and low cal.

What you need:

3 cups. of a bunch of your favorite fruits, De-seeded and diced into small pieces. Choose fruits with a firm flesh so that they retain their shape after being tossed about. I used apples, pomegranate, oranges and kiwi (I know it mashes up but I put it right in the end)

1/4 cup. (optional) mixed nuts and dry fruits (almonds, walnuts, dried figs and raisins)
2-3 tsp. of Orange flavored 'Tang' or any similar drink powder.

1/2 tsp. (optional) Indian Chaat Masala- you can buy it or make your own


What to do:


1. Place the firm fleshed fruit in a big bowl

2. Put in half the nuts and dry fruit in the bowl and toss gently

3. Sprinkle tang and chaat masala all over and toss again. Let it sit for a while in the fridge.

4. Before serving sprinkle the remaining nuts and fruits and the mashy fruit if any and eat!


The Tang serves two purposes: an easy dressing and prevents fruit discoloration because of the citric acid in it. Isn't that cool?

Hi World!

Hi everyone
you can call me food fan.. but then again who isn't?

This is my blog. I hope to share a LOT of recipes and anything related to food.

This really isn't the best intro but it covers the ground or should I say plate?

See ya!