tomato – Uncomplicated Cooking

An Eggplant Boat in a sea of Green.

March 26, 2018March 26, 2018 Posted in Uncategorized, VegeterianLeave a comment

You need:

One large eggplant. When choosing get one with a small ring at its end instead of a line. These will have a lot lesser seeds.
2-3 tomatoes, finely diced.
1 onion, finely diced.
Grated cheese.
Any greens like spinach or malabar spinach. I used Water Amaranth (local name is Ponnaganti)
Pepper as per taste.

First prep the egg plants. Cut into two halves. Then peel about 1 cm of the skin from the center. This will give it a stable base while baking. Scoop out the seeds and flesh from the middle. There must be about a cm of eggplant left in the shape of a boat. Salt the boats and keep them aside. Chop the removed part of the eggplant.

Heat a tablespoon of olive oil. Add the onions, tomatoes and the left over eggplant. Saute on high heat till everything has softened. Season with salt and pepper. Its done when the volume is half of what it was when you started. Let it cool down.

Wash out the salt from the eggplant boats. Wipe them dry. Coat the outside with olive oil. Fill the boat with the cooked vegetables. Grate cheese on it. Bake in a preheated oven at 180C for 35 mins. Let it rest at least 10 mins, before serving.

There will be some left over vegetables in the pan. Add some more oil to it. Saute the greens in this, till they are well cooked. Check and add a little salt or pepper if you want. A touch of chilly flakes is always a good idea.

Plate it and enjoy a super healthy meal.

Tomato Canapes with Anchovies

February 23, 2018February 23, 2018 Posted in Keto Diet, Seafood, UncategorizedLeave a comment

Boost your heart health with super Omega from fresh Anchovies.

You need:

500 grams of fresh anchovies.
3 large tomatoes, cut into thick rings.
Chopped Coriander or Basil.
Chopped Garlic cloves.
One chopped green chilly.
Two tablespoons of Olive oil.

It’s best to remove the bones from the anchovies. After washing them, leave them in the freezer for about twenty minutes. Remove the bones by simply peeling them out. It’s very easy and you may only need to make a tiny snip at the tail end. Most fishes will simply part ways with the middle bone without much resistance.

Heat olive oil, lightly fry the garlic and green chilly. Spread out the tomatoes slices without stacking them on top of each other. Let them cook till they have softened. Do not add any salt. Flip the tomato slices. Spread out the fish on top of the tomatoes. Sprinkle chopped coriander leaves. Cook on low heat. The color of the fish will rapidly start changing into opaque white. It may take no more than 10 mins for the fish to be cooked. Carefully move the tomatoes to one side and the fish to the other. Use high heat to dry it up. This will take no more than 2-3 minutes.

Enjoy.

Basic Tomato Sauce

January 11, 2018January 11, 2018 Posted in Uncategorized, VegeterianLeave a comment

Its Basic!

You Need:

3 Large Ripe Tomatoes.
1 Small Onion, finely chopped.
4-5 Garlic cloves, roughly chopped.
Paprika as per taste and then a teaspoon.
Italian Seasoning.
Salt as per taste.

First we need to blanch the tomatoes. So using a sharp knife cut thru the skin on the base of the tomatoes in the shape of a cross. Get water to a raging boil. Carefully drop in the tomatoes and let them stay fully immersed for approximately a minute. Remove when the skin starts to tear away from the cross.

Remove and let them cool. Remove the skin. Cut them into quarters and remove the seeds. Discard both the skin and seeds.

Heat oil. Saute the onions and garlic till they are sweating away. Add the tomatoes. Season with salt and paprika. Cook on low heat till the tomatoes are so mushy and soft that you can visually no longer tell them apart.

Add Italian seasoning. When cool, blend into a fine puree.

This sauce goes great with plain cooked Pasta and super great with grilled chicken.

Spinach with Tomatoes

December 23, 2017 Posted in Chicken, Keto Diet, UncategorizedLeave a comment

You need:

Three bright tomatoes, quartered.
One roughly chopped capsicum.
Spinach.
A little butter.
100 gms of any fast cooking protein. I used chicken but you can use paneer, tofu or prawns.

Heat oil. Fry the tomatoes and capsicum. Season with salt to reduce the time it takes to soften them.

Let them cool and blitz them in a blender.

In the same pan, add butter and deglaze it. Toss in the protein and brown the edges. Add spinach and after it has wilted add the puree.

Cook till the consistency is just right.

Enjoy.

Mutton Shami Burger

November 16, 2017November 16, 2017 Posted in UncategorizedLeave a comment

For the Mutton Shami, you need:

Boneless mutton about 300 gms.
One medium onion, roughly chopped.
2 tablespoons of Channa Dhal, soaked in water for at least 10 mins.
1 tomato, roughly chopped.
1 teaspoon of Ginger Garlic paste.
1/4 teaspoon Turmeric powder.
1 teaspoon red chilly powder.
1 teaspoon of cumin.
1 tablespoon of garam masala.
Some fresh coriander.
A little salt.

Combine all ingredients. Sprinkle a little water and pressure cook. On high till first whistle and then simmer for about 20 mins. Open and remove the mutton pieces. Reduce the gravy till its consistency is very thick. Grind into a paste. You can either go very fine or leave a few pieces of dhall whole. Its totally your choice.

Shallow fry in oil after shaping into patties. You decide the shapes and sizes.

To make a burger, lightly toast the bun. Apply mayonnaise or tartar sauce on both the top and bottom pieces. This will make the bun a little water proof. It will prevent the other fillings from making it soggy. Between the two pieces its your choice. Generally sliced cucumber, tomato, onion and the meat with a slice of cheese works well. I skipped adding any more condiments, but you can add mustard sauce or ketchup.