original recipe idea

Smoked Spanish Peppers and Zingy Mushrooms in a creamy sauce

June 24, 2014 by manjirichitnis 12 Comments

My love for using smoked sweet red peppers is taking over my recipes for now , I made these zingy mushrooms for a friend who popped in for brunch about 2 months ago but I have been very lazy and this recipe is finally seeing daylight. I guess the electric atmosphere of the yellow jersey clad stadium full of Brazil fans and the super tight match going on with Camroon is giving me a much needed rush of happy hormones ,add to that the frenzy of the Wimbledon matches , the air in Wimbledon is heavy with anticipation, huge posters , fluorescent tennis ball props in all windows , the traditional colours of the Wimbledon ribbons and balloons galore, the bus service from the station to the venue with hyperexcited people , everything is screaming tennis here!

Lamuyo Peppers are great for roasting as they are bigger and sweeter than their cousins the hot variety. They are juicy and crunchy and go well with garlic,basil,oregano,taste fab with cheese , think stuffed peppers grilled , just perfect for summer !

The recipe was given to me by P aunty , shes a fab cook as I have mentioned in my past posts too and her recipes are innovative, delicious and easy to make, I love pestering her to keep sending me more recipes everytime we talk 😉 .So I decided to amp up this recipe with some madness my style and use up the handsome red pepper staring at me from my fridge 😉

Ingredients:

1 large pack Chestnut Mushrooms sliced
1 large red Lamuyo sweet pepper
8 cloves Garlic- bash and chop fine
1/2 red onionchopped very fine
2 chillies- (more or less acc to your taste) – chop fine
3 heaped tbs flavoured soft cheese, I love using the herby Philadelphia
2 tbsp Olive Oil
Sea Salt to taste
Parsley- a handful -chopped finely

Method:

Roast the pepper on gas flame till the skin chars and begins to peel off, I use tongs to hold it by the stem so it can char even at the top.
While the pepper cools just enough to allow you to peel and reveal the smoked juicy flesh, you can use the time to wash and slice the chestnut mushrooms
While taking off the charred skin off the smoked pepper remember to place a dish below as it will release lots of juice which we don’t want to loose as it is one powerhouse of smoky peppery sweet flavour!
Heat oil in a sauce pan and saute the garlic till it turns brown and the familiar aroma of fabulous garlic begins to waft and assault your nostrils.
Then add the very finely chopped red onion and cook on a low flame stirring regularly till the onion is thoroughly crispy and reduces in quantity, do not let it burn.
Then toss in the mushrooms and the chopped smoked pepper and cook for about 2 minutes on a low flame ,stirring and making sure it does not stick to the pan or overcook
Then add the soft cheese ,sea salt and finely chopped parsley,mix well and cook with lid for about 1 to 1 1/2 minute.
Serve with garlic bread smothered in butter – eat guilt free;)

What I love about this dish , its creamy , its a bit sweet a bit more zingy and has an underlying deep smoked flavour that is robust without being overpowering ,I’d say its a new comfort food for me , what with all the moorish soft cheese in there!

Smoky and Spicy Lamb Burgers

June 16, 2014 by manjirichitnis 27 Comments

Come Summer and I am one happy bunny,more so because I really miss the omnipresent sunshine from back home in Mumbai city! But the one thing I love the most about the British Summer is the amazing BBQ’s we have ! Last years most fun barbie was at our friends place , we OD’ed on grilled seafood and Pimms – hoping to have a repeat of that this year !

Some friends have a BBQ planned for later this month but I couldn’t wait so got myself some lamb mince and decided to use some fresh mushrooms and add my own twist to the burgers with a bright red smoked sweet red pepper! My trusty old griddle pan at hand , I turned my tiny urban open plan kitchen into a tiny BBQ party venue!

Perfect time to use up some of the wonderful La Chinata smoked paprika powder.

Ingredients:

500 gm Lamb Mince
1 bunch of spring onion
1 big sweet red pepper
250 gm button mushrooms
150 gm cherry tomatoes
3 tsp sweet paprika powder La Chinata
1 tsp red chilli flakes
2 tsp garlic paste
4 tsp coriander powder
a large sprig of fresh rosemary
1 1/2 tbsp chilli oil
Salt to taste

Method:

Flame roast the sweet red pepper on a gas flame, if you’re doing a BBQ ,first rub some oil and garlic paste onto it.
After it has been roasted and cooled down a bit,peel off the skin and chop fine
Chop the mushrooms to tiny bite sized pieces
Finely chop the spring onions and cherry tomatoes
Wash the lamb mince under a running tap by placing it inside a sieve.
Mix the chopped smoked sweet red pepper, mushrooms,spring onions ,cherry tomatoes,rosemary,chilli flakes,sweet smoked paprika powder from La Chinata and coriander powder,paprika and salt.

Knead all the ingredients into the mixture.
Make mini burger patties by taking palm sized portions of this mixture and ty and pat them into roughly round shape.
On a griddle pan add some chilli oil and place a few burgers on it. Cook them for a few minutes on one side and them flip and repeat.
Serve the cooked lamb burgers inside wholegrain soft burger buns generously lined with butter , a thick slice of cheese, pickles,crunchy salad leaves and doused with ketchup. Or if you’d rather not then eat them plain – I did , served with some grilled button mushrooms and tender shoots of asparagus on which I slathered generous amounts of smoked paprika sweet chilli powder mixed with some oil and garlic paste – pure heaven!

The sweet smoked paprika powder gives the lamb burgers a definite sweet hot flavour and the others spices combine well with the vegetables.Its also a great way to get fussy eaters to eat veggies hidden in layers of delicious meat and spices. I would have loved to add some boiled green peas too, they would add more bulk and taste too.

*With thanks to La Chinata for sending samples for review.No monetary compensation was provided for this post.All views expressed are my own.

Smoky Chorizo and Chives baked Eggs in Pots

January 6, 2014 by manjirichitnis 4 Comments

Of all the crazy boxing day sale shopping I am most happy with what I found for my kitchen (of course!). Amongst a few things the best buys are a massive Denby cast iron crock pot which doubles up as a slow cooker and I plan to use it real carefully,maybe even pass it down as a family heirloom, and then there are the beautifully dark burnt orange mini cocotte from Le Creuset. I couldn’t think of a better way to inaugurate the cute mini cocottes than by making baked eggs.

I created this recipe for Baked eggs and decided to give it a twist with laying a base of wafer thin potatoes, they give this dish a whole new dimension and are like a secret surprise at the bottom of this miniature stockpot of goodness!

Serves:2 Prep Time:10 Minutes In the Oven: 20 Minutes

Ingredients:

5 eggs
a small bunch of chives finely chopped
2 large tsp cream cheese
1/2 red onion finely chopped
4 spicy chorizo sausages chopped
5-6 chestnut mushrooms
Coriander to season
Sea Salt
Freshly Cracked black pepper
2 tbsp butter
2 tsp red chilli flakes
1/4th potato thinly sliced
2 tsp olive oil

Method:

Beat the eggs in a large bowl and add the cream cheese,finely chopped chives,the chopped mushrooms, finely chopped coriander,sea salt and red chilli flakes.
In a saucepan add the oil and sautee’ the red onion till they go soft n juicy and then add the chopped sausages, cook on a low flame for not more than 2 minutes
Grease the mini cocottes and place the potato slices at the bottom, add the red onion and sausage mixture and then pour the egg mixture on them.

Pre heat the oven to 220° C and place the mini cocottes on a tray, bake for the first 10 minutes with lid and then wait for 5 minutes then open the oven and bake again for 15 minutes without lid.

It’s super to watch the egg puff up and form the most perfect brown crusty top.I spent so much time getting the setting right that they collapsed by then – gaaaahhh! but still I am so happy with the results of this taste experiment!Serve with hot buttered toast and a large pot of English Breakfast tea.

This is the perfect indulgent breakfast for a Sunday morning, you could prepare the pots at night if you want to make them in large batches for a big weekend brunch.Simply cover and store in the fridge with lids on.

Mind you these may look like tiny pots but one of these and you feel stuffed!!

Achari Mutton Recipe

November 13, 2013 by manjirichitnis 5 Comments

Achari Mutton Recipe – a must-have in every home cook’s repertoire

Mutton is my favourite form of consuming red meat and though I LOVE pork with equal fervour, it can never quite compare to the deeply satisfying rich taste of a proper Maharashtrian Mutton Curry. This Achari Mutton curry is something I have cooked several times over the past years and tweaked the recipe to get it to this current one. Though I do still love experimenting with the curry by using various pickles, the basic achari mutton recipe remains the same.

How I came about to love this particular recipe is particularly interesting as it is from a phase of my life when I was working a very hectic full-time job back in India. My colleagues and I were all at a party and that’s when I tasted this Achari Chicken which totally blew my socks off! We were all at my boss’s house in Pune and one of my colleagues who also happens to be a trained chef, made Achari chicken and roti’s for us in a flash! It tasted so divine!

Achari Ghost

Fast foward a few years, to when we have moved to London. I remember,I had to make an urgent trip to India due to some unforseen circumstances. My husband was not able to get leave at short notice and was feeling pretty misreable for not being able to fly with me. I had to do something to lift his spirits and comfort food topped the list. After all, nothing beats the feeling of waking up after a good afternoon nap on a weekend, better till if that nap is brought by the supreme satisfaction one feels after consuming a comforting homecooked meal that reminds you of the taste of life back in India. Exactly for such occasions a good mutton curry and rice meal, is just the thing.

Mutton in a rich pickle flavoured curry

Fresh Mutton was procured but I didn’t have any puree’s to marinate them in and then a brainwave happened ! I got out my most treasured bottle of mango pickle made by my sister’s mum-in-law (who is an expert with pickles and makes a minimum of 10 varieties every summer, yes you heard that right, TEN, these are then packed and parceled all over the world !!)

I really didn’t want to use up all the pickle but for a kilo of mutton, I just had to, ah well small scarifies for the larger good I say 🙂

I silently thank Asha Ma as we lovingly call her, for the fabulous pickles she makes so expertly for her family. And more so for her immense patience with packing them neatly in air-tight, spill-proof containers.

Achari Mutton Curry Recipe

Achari Mutton Recipe

Manjiri Chitnis

Achari Mutton Recipe, Succulent mutton cooked in a richly flavoured, thick gravy sauce, flavoured with pickle or achar, this is also called Achari Ghost

5 from 3 votes

Print Recipe

Prep Time 30 mins

Cook Time 30 mins

Course Main Course

Cuisine Indian

Servings 4

Ingredients

1 kilo mutton curry pieces
250 gm 1/2 bottle of mango pickle
2 tbsp heaped of freshly ground ginger garlic paste
200 gm 1/2 tub of yogurt /Dahi
2 medium tomatoes
3 small Red Onions
4 tsp heaped Red Chilli Powder /Laal Tikhat
3 tsp heaped Turmeric Powder / Halad
Pinch Asafoetida / Hing
2 Bay Leaves
1 small Stick of cinnamon
4 tsp heaped coriander and cumin mix powder
3 1/2 tbsp Oil
4 boiled eggs peeled and sliced into halves

For the Chilli Marinade

3 Green Chillies
1 Lime juiced
1 tbsp Oil
1 tsp Red chilli powder

Instructions

Wash the mutton pieces thoroughly and then pour the pickle over them and add the ginger garlic paste and mix well such that each piece coats well in the pickle.
Ideally I would marinate this mutton overnight to really let these flavours seep deep into the fibers of the meat. Also, as mutton curry takes longer to cook than lamb it is necessary to ensure that for the flavours to full develop and mature, marination must be done for over 5 hours at least.
Cover the meat with a plastic cling film and leave in the refrigerator overnight, do not freeze unless the temperature outside is over 35 deg Celsius as at that temperature if the cooling in the fridge is not good the meat may go bad. If freezing the mutton allow at least 4 hours to totally defrost by first moving from freezer to fridge and then keeping it outside.
Pour the yogurt over the marinated meat and mix well,leave aside for 20 minutes
Just when you are ready to cook the mutton peel and roughly chop red onions into chunks and also made big pieces of the tomatoes and puree them in the food processor.
In a large vessel heat the oil and add a pinch of asafoetida, sauté the bay leaves and the cinnamon stick for about 30 seconds on a medium flame.
Then add the red onion and tomato puree , sauté in the oil ,stirring well and let it simmer on a low flame with 1 cup of water.
Add red chilli powder,turmeric powder, coriander and cumin mix powder.
Let this cook for about 10 -12 minutes.
Now add the marinated mutton and add enough water to make a good amount of gravy , if you are going to use the pressure cooker then add a little extra.
Cook on a medium flame for about 1 and a half hour , in a pressure cook give it 8 whistles.
Mutton pieces have a lot of fat attached on the sides which also adds to the oil used for cooking hence I have used less oil.I am unable to eat the overtly oily curry which leave a huge layer of oil on the top if allowed to stand.
Now for the spicy dip, slit the green or red chillies lengthwise and dip into the oil and red chilli powder mix and add the juice of one lime.
When the curry is cooked serve hot on a bed of steaming hot rice with half a boiled egg.

Keyword Achari Mutton

For extra flavour bite into the fiery red chilli with the lime-chilli mix. It’s not for the faint-hearted though, but if you really do manage to relish the aftertaste of hot chilli you can safely say that you can now eat any fiery dish without breaking a sweat or getting the runs, a sort of baptism by fire food ritual!! One only for the brave souls! This powerful blast of heat on the tongue will see your forehead dotted with beads of sweat. Truly a labour of love.

The resulting mutton curry is rich in flavour and served hot with fluffy Jeera rice it is such a satisfying and comforting meal. But the best bit is when you leave the balance of this curry overnight , the next day the taste is so much better I’d almost choose left over curry over the fresh 😉

Highly recommend serving this curry with a cooling curd side dish – half a cup of yogurt mixed with with sliced red onions and cucumbers ,seasoned with a pinch of salt , half a spoon of sugar and 1 heaped teaspoon of toasted cumin powder ,garnished with some freshly chopped coriander leaves.I’d wash down the meal with butter milk or a good glass or two of a full bodied red wine.