My Take on Hummus

I have been making hummus for a while now. I picked up the basic recipes from a number of places on the net and a book or two. I have taken the common elements and have added a few things to my version of hummus. After describing how I made hummus I have been at the receiving end of long tirades about how this is not the proper way to make hummus yada yada yada... So... This is my way... To make sure you feel happy please make changes after the first batch. Hummus IS comfort food :) 


Anyways...

I usually take a sesame (তিল/तिल) and chickpeas (কাবুলি ছোলা/छोले) in the same proportion (dry weight) to begin. For this lot, I took 250gm of each. 

I first roasted the sesame (তিল/तिल) in a pan and then cooled it spread on a newspaper to get rid of the moisture. I just can't seem to find the interestingly strong sesame that Chandan brothers sell in Pune as गावरान(gaoran) til in Mumbai. I just get strange looks when I ask and am shown the standard white sesame. So I just went and bought it when I was in Pune... This is a nice and brownish looking till with a very robust flavour compared to the standard sesame you get.

Sesame roasted...

I had soaked the  chickpeas (কাবুলি ছোলা/छोले) overnight and once I drained the water it was a few grams over double the dry weight.

Chickpeas soaked overnight...

To be honest before I bought the digital scale I just did all this by eye and it worked fine. I just went to the grocer and asked him to give me the stuff in multiples of quantities he/she could measure, and hence the 250gm multiple thing. Just made my life easier then :)
Anyways... I dunked the entire thing in a pressure cooker with just enough water to cover the chick peas and cooked it for a few whistles...

Chichpeas and water...

In the pressure cooker...

A few whistles later...

While the chick peas were cooking, I got the garlic in place to make the tahina...

And rough ground it with some sesame...

Then I took the rest of the sesame and ground it into a powder. Then I added the garlic mixed rough ground bit and blended the entire thing with gobs of olive oil... 
Tahina ready... :)

Tahina

By this time the chick peas had cooled enough for me to pop them into the food processor. This has really been a good buy in Mumbai. I've done this for a long time on my trusty Pune grinder but this is just brilliant for things like hummus.

After a quick whirl and before I incorporated the tahina I added the juice from a lemon and a bit of dhannia and jeera powder. This is where I deviate from the purists' version of hummus.

After another whirl in the blender with the tahina, I laced the thing with some more olive oil and my hummus was ready.

The hummus stays for ages in the fridge so it is really worth the effort. Especially since I can do a whole lot of different things with it while it is there... 

Carrot Sesame Basil Salad

It was one of those days when I just could not bring myself to cook anything in the morning. Also I did not have much in the fridge.
So I pulled out a few carrots and three sachets of the of ketchup.

The sliced the carrots...

...and then got out some iceberg lettuce and basil leaves that I had in the fridge...

I quickly chopped the basil...

...and then mixed half of the basil with the shredded lettuce...

I did not want the carrots to be too much of a 'chew' in the carrot, so I microwaved the carrots for a minute and then mixed the rest of the shredded basil with this.

I'd mixed them separately as this way the basil would mix better I thought. 

After this I started making the dressing. I cut and poured all the ketchup into a small bowl...

... then I put in a teaspoon of dark soya sauce...

... and added a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar...

I tossed everything together, added the dressing, and then topped everything with sesame seeds and some kalonji.

It was time to pack the salad and then quickly rush off to office after this.

Bhaja Kari Inspired Beguner Torkari

I remember my mom making a dry fish preparation called Bhaja Curry with begun (baingan/aubergine). I think that it has its origin in East Bengal since I have not really heard of it elsewhere.


This dish needs a certain type of begun (baingan/aubergine) that I have not really seen since I moved away from Kolkata. Now, this type of begun is elongated and unlike the baingan  that I normally find in the market (either small or large but with a distinct shape that defines our memort of baingan) 

When I saw these with Sita (my vegetable vendor of choice), I bought them on a lark and then wondered what to do with them.


Making bhaja curry is quite impossible without the fish (and that too when you wake up on a work day morning). So I tried to replicate as much I could dredge from my memories of sitting in my grnadmom's kitchen in Bandel. Most of the memories were rather obscured by rather more vivid memories of one or the other dog in that kitchen—Honey, Gypsy, Sandy, or perhaps even Candy... Anyways...


I sliced the begun as quickly as I could...

Once all the begun was sliced, I put them in the vessel I use as an impromptu colander...


I sprinkled haldi (turmeric) and worked it into the begun without crushing or mangling them.

Then I put some dhania powder and worked that in as well, and then kept the lot aside as I prepared for the rest of the process...

Just before I started cooking I added a little salt to the begun as well, since adding it before would result it the begun releasing all the water in them and becoming a mangled useless pulp.


Now this is where I went completely away from the 'Bengali'ness of the original recipe.

I took methi, til (sesame), curry patta (curry leaves), and chopped some garlic as well...
All this went into the pan with whatever cooking I had at hand...

I added the begun and cooked the mixture by tossing the entire thing to coat the oil instead of using a ladle. If I used a ladle the thin and delicate begun slices would immediately mangle into a rather pulpy mass...

Idea is to cook the begun well while retaining the coat of spices without destroying the slices that provide the texture.


I knew that I was done when it looked like this....

Then it was into a recycled take-away dabba and I rushed to 

Quick Wok Tossed Noodles with Spinach & Broccoli

I'd told Subha that I'd try and stir fry something in the wok and give it to her to taste when I met her next. When Guru and Subha said that they'd meet me on Saturday, I remembered what I'd promised.


I opened the fridge and saw nothing besides eggs, spinach, and some broccoli to toss with the noodles.

I sliced and smashed some ginger and garlic to start things off...

All this while the noodles dunked around in some boiling water...

The noodles soon were out and got rinsed in some cold water to prevent them from cooking further..

I warmed little oil in the wok

And then tossed in the ginger and garlic mince.

It is not a happy thing if you want to cook and photograph when you are using a wok since the searing heat cooks things in seconds... This got over browned in about 5 secs!

I quickly added the veggies and tossed them around

I added the noodles

... and rounded things by adding a splatter of toasted sesame seeds.

Guru and I gobbled up most of this.


While packing the noodles for Subha, I grated some lemon rind on top..

... And... We have some nice (and very quick) noodles :)