Guasacaca - Venezuelan Avocado Salsa

Guasacaca - Venezuelan Avocado Salsa

In Venezuela the cuisine you will find influences especially from Italy, Spain and France. If that is not enough you will find indigenous as well as African influence.

Being a large and diverse country, each region in Venezuela has its own distinctive regional cooking.

On the coast enjoy fish, shellfish, crayfish, and fish soups as well as fish stews.  Coconut is also part of some dishes. In the Andean region the food is quite different. Here the "arepa" is not made of cornmeal but wheat. Cured meats and sausages are a delicacy and are sold in many villages.

 In the Amazon region besides yucca, corn, beans and bananas you can also enjoy turtles, tapirs, monkeys birds and deep fried ants. Squeamish you could also live on Casabe, bread made out of yucca.

When in the market, for my weekly Sunday marketing I started looking at avocados hubby was all too happy! He was expecting a shake. When I came home I immediately started attending to it (normally it’s lying around, he gets irritated and attends to it) was he thrilled!!!

Then he saw me mixing it up for a salad he just walked away….poor man!!!

At lunch (he came late) he had heard me admonishing the girls “keep some for Papa” he got curious and Apeksha served him a miniscule portion just to harass him, “taste it Papa. You may not like it” was what she told him!!

He came back not just for seconds but for fourths also. The entire bowl was over in one sitting. But the best part was FIL too liked it!!

There are some substitutions here; I replaced seeded jalapeno peppers with chillies and hot pepper sauce with chilli sauce, white wine vinegar with red wine vinegar.

Guasacaca - Venezuelan Avocado Salsa

Guasacaca - Venezuelan Avocado Salsa

Recipe Source:Food.com

Yield: 6 cups

Ingredients:

• 2 cups onions, finely chopped 
• ¾ cup red capsicum, finely chopped  
• 3 tblspn green chillies, finely chopped
• 3 tblspn extra virgin olive oil
• 3 tblspn red wine vinegar
• 1 tsp US mustard
• ¾ tsp salt
• ¼   tsp black pepper, fresh ground
• 1 large garlic clove, minced
• 1 ½ cups avocado, chopped and peeled 
• 1 ½ cups tomatoes, chopped
• 2 tblspn dhania/ coriander leaves, chopped 
• ¼ tsp red chilli sauce

Method:

• Mix the onions, red capsicum, green chillies, olive oil, red wine vinegar, mustard, salt, pepper, garlic in a large bowl.
• Toss mixture gently.
• Cover and refrigerate 3 hours.
• Stir in avocado and tomatoes and red chilli sauce just before serving.

 

Guasacaca - Venezuelan Avocado Salsa

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 44

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Bajiyos /Djiboutian Fried Vegetables/ Aloo Pakora

 Bajiyos /Djiboutian Fried Vegetables/ Aloo Pakora

 Hi! Joining me again today in my foodie trip around the world in 30 days? 

Today let’s visit Djibouti, officially the Republic of Djibouti, it’s a country located in the Horn of Africa bordered by Eritrea in the north, Ethiopia in the west and south, and Somalia in the Southeast. The remainder of the border is formed by the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden at the east.

Djibouti is a multi-ethnic nation with a population of over 810,000 inhabitants. The Somali and Afar make up the two largest ethnic groups. Both speak Afro-Asiatic languages, which serve as recognized national languages. Arabic and French constitute the country's two official languages. Islam is a predominant religion in the region.

According to Wikipedia, “Djiboutian cuisine consists of a mixture of Somali, Afar,  Ethiopian,  Yemeni and French cuisine, with some additional Asian influences. Local dishes are commonly prepared using a lot of Middle Eastern spices, ranging from saffron to cinnamon.

Spicy dishes come in many variations, from the traditional Fah-fah or "Soupe Djiboutienne" (spicy boiled beef) to the yetakelt wet (spicy mixed vegetable stew). Xalwo (halva) is a popular confection eaten during festive occasions, such as Eid celebrations or wedding receptions. After meals, homes are traditionally perfumed using incense (cuunsi) or  frankincense (lubaan), which is prepared inside an incense burner referred to as a dabqaad.”What caught my eye here was,

” Sambuusa, the Somali version of the triangular samosa snack, is commonly eaten throughout Djibouti during the afur (iftar). The local variant is spiced with hot green pepper, and the main ingredient is often ground goat meat or fish. Xalwo(pronounced "halwo") or halva is a popular confection served during special occasions, such as Eid celebrations or wedding receptions.

Garoobey is one of the staple dishes of Djibouti. Oats porridge, it is prepared by soaking oats in milk, and is flavoured with cumin or cumin powder. Bajiyos are a regular fixture at the table and in street shops, particularly when it is time to break the fast during Ramadan. They are part of the four essential elements of the Djiboutian afternoon tea. Fruits such as mango, guava (seytuun), banana (moos) are also eaten throughout the day as snacks.”

Sounds familiar does it not?

The variety of ingredients used to make the bajiyos or bhajiyas or pakoras is amazing. I was surprised to hear about making them with cucumber, and butternut squash. That is totally new to me.

I stuck to just potato, I know it’s totally out of character especially with a name like the Mad Scientist but there is limit to my families patience with my experiments!!!  I have been feeding them totally international and….

 Okay this was deep frying I would rather not do it. I kept postponing it till the last possible moment.

Bajiyos/ Djiboutian Fried Vegetables

Cuisine: Djiboutian

Recipe Source: partly from here 

Ingredients:

• 1 medium size potato
• 1 cup besan /gram flour
• 2 tbsp rice flour
• ½ tsp ajwain/ carom seeds
• ¼ tsp red chilli powder
• A pinch of hing/asafoetida
• ⅔ to ¾ cup water
• A pinch of baking soda (optional)
• Salt as needed

Method:

• Slice the potatoes thinly in rounds. Keep them in water till needed.
• Mix well the besan, rice flour, ajwain, red chilli powder, hing and soda  with water. Remember to use little water as more can be added if needed. The batter has to be thick.
• Check the seasoning and add more if required.
• Heat oil for frying in a kadhai/wok .
• Now transfer the potato slices, few at a time to a clean kitchen napkin so that the slices are not damp.
• Dip each potato slice in the batter and place it gently in hot oil.
• Add  5-6 potato slices each time.
• Fry  till golden and crisp.
• Drain on paper towels.
• Repeat with the rest of the slices.
• Serve with chutney or tomato sauce.

An InLinkz Link-up

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 44

Hi! First time here? Well then you are Most Welcome! I hope you keep coming back for more here. If you are my regular visitor then Thanks, for you encourage me to experiment more!! I would like you to please click on my link below and like my Facebook Page. I will be happy if you can follow me on on Twitter too!

Mashed Potatoes

Mashed Potatoes

By now you know that September and May are busy months for us at Blogging Marathon.

This month round we are blogging International dishes to make things a little difficult we are doing it in an alphabetical order.

 So I am making my dishes for the marathon, for one such dish I made mashed potatoes as a side. I did not expect the girls to go crazy over the mashed potatoes so I made very little… okay, that is an excuse, I ran out of potatoes , the girls went crazy over the mashed potatoes of course they loved the main dish, that was expected !

Since then I make the mashed potatoes regularly!  Here is what I do.

Pakke Pakke Tamatar/ Ripe Stuffed Cherry Tomato

In the book Vegetarian Fare at Taj there are delicious pictures some of them are doable at home some need a lot of thought process for substitutes but the pictures are wow so very delicious!  One such a dish is Kacche Pakke Tamatar!

The others that I have already attempted are VendakaiMelugu Peretti, Waal/Long Beans in Butter Garlic Sauce, Wok Fried Lotus Stemsand Assorted Veggies in Honey Chilli Sauce, Zunka Bhakar , Idli~ Old Wine in a New Bottle! Slowly plan to attempt them all.

I could not get kacche cherry tamatar, which is raw cherry tomatoes and so I made it as a pakke pakke tamatar.  You could use 1 cup of raw  cherry and 1 cup of ripe tomatoes. 

Pepper Bhindi.

My brother asked me if I knew if how to make pepper bhindi that Amma used to make. Bhindi being Lady finger or Orka! And it was something that they had eaten in a Indo-Chinese restaurant in Goa.

Since I had never eaten it, yes it was something she made after I was married off I was at a loss. When we discussed it he told me there are onions and bhindi in it. The bhindi was cut lengthwise and there was pepper and soya sauce in it.

Butter Cholay

Birthday are celebrated in a big way in our Office. The birthday boy or girl is expected to throw a treat big or small and we all wait for the treat. Greedy gluts that we all are J . Generally we have something that is quite filling. Like bhaji pav (not pav bhaji mind you but bhaji pav--the Goan style), or chaat, idli vada etc.

The wishing done bouquet handed over and the food devoured at our worktables we are all back to work. 

We discuss what have just eaten and the ingredients and how I make it and …. You get the general idea.

This time around when we were served bhaji pav, I was a bit busy so I just looked at the red bhaji and wondered what the stuff was and continued with what was at hand.  After I finished my call my neighbour told me to just taste the bhaji and see.  Fearing the worst I tasted just the bhaji and was transported to those carefree days when weight was not a problem. Tucking food in was not tucking in sugars, cholesterol and it was sheer pleasure.

 The gravy was butter chicken gravy and cholay buried under the gravy!! Something that I had forgotten about!! How can I not make it at home? Then not share it here, my wonderfully supportive family in the Blog World, especially since I can still hear the compliments that came my way.

Well taking into consideration that hubby and FIL need to take care of cholesterol I avoided khoya or mava. I felt that the dish was not exactly butter chicken gravy but came close to it but like I said I had no complaints.

Do not let the long ingredients list put you off. It’s all there in your pantry.

Ingredients:

·       250 grams Cholay, soaked overnight and boiled

·       4 onions, peeled and cut in coarse pieces

·       3 big tomatoes, blanched

·       1 bulb garlic

·       1 inch piece of ginger

·       ½ tsp coriander seed

·       1/8 tsp jeera

·       1 inch piece of cinnamon

·       1  Clove

·       2-3 pepper corns

·       1 green cardamom

·       1 tsp red chilli powder

·       ¼ tsp pav bhaji masala

·       1 Badi elichi (optional)

·       ¼ cup magza seed or melon seeds (substitute with cashew nut say 2 tblsp or 8 -10 seeds) 

·       1 cup thick milk ( I used left over milk that had become quite thick  with repeated heating)

·       1 tbspn  kasuri methi

·       Oil

·       butter

·       Salt

·       Sugar to taste

Method:

1.     Boil the onions in a little water. Drain and transfer to the mixer jar.

2.     In the chutney pot of the mixer grind the magza seeds (toast them first).

3.     Grind the onion, garlic, ginger, coriander seeds, jeera, clove, cinnamon, pepper corns, cardamom to a fine paste.

4.     In a thick kadhai/wok add the oil and then the butter. Add the badi elichi if using and fry.

5.     Add the ground paste to the oil butter mix and stir fry on low flame till the oil separates.

6.     As this is frying add the blanched and peeled tomatoes to the mixer jar and puree the tomatoes.

7.     Add the pureed tomatoes to the kadhai/wok and fry till oil separates.

8.     Add the toasted magza seeds and stir.

9.     Add the boiled cholay, kasuri methi, salt and let it boil for a few minutes. When the gravy thickens a bit add the milk and bring to boil again.

10.  Adjust the seasoning add the pav bhaji masala and the red chilli powder and let the gravy thicken.

11.  Serve hot with rotis, puri or even steamed rice.

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Caldin ~A Goan Catholic Veggie

You have heard me rant quite a bit that the Goans do eat veggies contrary to the popular view. Of course the veggies are few but they are tasty. My view of all the veggies was that they are all covered with masala in the Goan way.  How wrong can a person be!! Even after staying in Goa for 25 years I am still uncovering dishes, vegetarian mind you.

I was chatting with my friend Judy and happened to ask her what Caldin is. Caldin is traditionally a Goans Catholic veg dish. It means ‘in a gravy.’  

  Surprised? Even I was quite amazed.

I did ask her quite rudely, I might add, Catholics and veggies. Her reply was quite a revelation. We cannot eat meat all the time dear, she said we feel the need to eat veggies too. Of course the veggies used in Caldin are like cauliflower, lady finger, potatoes quite a few but we do eat them.

She did share the recipe with me. Not content that night we went out for dinner and Apeksha n I ordered Caldin and enjoyed it.

Now since I did not have all the veggies at hand thanks to the fact that I had not done my weekly shopping I had to make do. So my Caldin had only cauliflower and some tired looking carrots! And still the caldin was appreciated.

Ingredients:

To grind:

• A small knob of Ginger
•  4 cloves garlic
•  ½ tsp Coriander seeds
•  2 Green chillies
•  ¼ tsp Haldi
•  ¼ tsp jeera
•  ¼ cup coconut

For the coconut milk:

•  1 coconut grated

Rest of the ingredients:

•  4 cups mixed vegetables
•  3 medium onions, finely chopped
•  2 tomatoes, finely chopped
•  A lemon sized ball of tamarind
•  Oil
•  Salt

Method:

1. First extract coconut milk on e thin and one thick. In case you need here is how.
2.  In thin milk soak the tamarind.
3.  Grind all the ingredients under to grind heading to a fine paste using a little water.
4.   Fry onion till translucent add the tomatoes and fry till they are softer.
5. Add the ground masala fry on a low flame.
6.  Add the thin coconut milk. Add veggies, salt & boil covered till the veggies are par-boiled.
7. Add the thick juice. Cook till done.
8. Serve with steamed rice or rotis. The Goans will prefer it with pav or uno.

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Triveni Dal

“Dal (also spelled Dahl or Daal, or Dhal) is a preparation of pulses (dried lentils, peas or beans) which have been stripped of their outer hulls and split. It also refers to the thick stew prepared from these pulses, an important part of Indian, Nepali, Pakistani, Sri Lankan, West Indian and Bangladeshi cuisine. It is regularly eaten with rice and vegetables in southern India, and with both rice and roti (wheat-based flat bread) throughout northern India and Pakistan. Dal is a ready source of proteins for a balanced diet containing little or no meat.

It provides an excellent source of protein for the Indian subcontinent, particularly for those adopting vegetarian diets or diets which do not contain much meat. Dal is typically around 25% protein by weight, giving it comparable protein content to meats. Dal is also high in carbohydrates whilst being virtually fat free. Dal is also rich in the B vitamins thiamine and folic acid as well as several minerals, notably iron and zinc.”

These words that I have copied from Wikipedia indicate how important dal is in our vegetarian meal.

 I make it a point to make dal everyday but the fact remains that I generally make it only in one particular way day in and out so that becomes boring and then it is rejected at the table.

So for this BM I choose dal as my theme. At least then I will try a newer variety that is the general idea. 

Vegetarian Chilli For Taste & Create

When I signed up for Taste & Create I was just hoping to make newer friends. But till now I have not contacted my partner Carol @ NO REASON NEEDED.  Will rectify the problem soon but right now I need to tell you that I am amazed at the stuff that Carol has done, not just cooking but from skydiving to horse riding!! My I really need to broaden my horizons!!

There were a few recipes like the no bake cookies, banana muffins and of course Chilli that caught my eye. Will use them shortly.

I had to try making chilli for it was a long pending demand. Must say I enjoyed it. Carol has used the slow cooker and beef ,since I do not own a slow cooker I used the regular kadhai/wok and in place of beef used rajma or kidney beans.

Tinda Stuffed with Paneer and Mint~ Dedicated to Mom

 I decided to make tinda and started to make Tinda Do piyaza that I had seen here.

However as I started long lost memories of how we, that is we siblings, hated this vegetable as kids swamped me. We always fought with my mother when we saw this vegetable. But in the sweltering heat of Nagpur and Akola where we spent our childhood in the summer very few vegetables were available. One was Gola Bhaji and other dhemsa or tinda. Poor mom had nothing to make, she must have been so frustrated…

Usali the Goan Way

I have been living in Goa for many years but still one article that was printed in the Times of India was an eye-opener.

The author of the article was Melinda Pereira Kamat and she wrote about The Perfect Usali, in case you are interested it is featured in the Times of India, Goa edition on Tuesday, July 13, 2010.  I was supposed to scan and post it here but... hope will do so in near future. 

Till I read this article my view about usal or usali was that it is made in Karnataka and Maharashtra/Gujarat and the method that I followed was about similar to what my mother and MIL made. That is it has garlic and onion for Kaku (my MIL) made it that way and it had coriander and coconut ground for Amma. So I had mixed both and made my usal.

Raw Banana/Plantain Palya

Amma used to make this veggie for us out of raw bananas.

 I do not remember what all went on it all I remember is eating this delicious raw banana cubes with curd rice.

In my attempt to recreate this magic I tried making big cubes out of my raw bananas .  There were about 2 cups of cubes.

Chilli Corn Wedges~~Blog Hop 3

 For this week’s Blog Hop initiated by Radhika  of Tickling Palates I was to visit Monika of Sin-A-Mon.

 The place is wonderful to say the least. Lovely recipes and pictures! As I was going through her blog I came across this recipe Chilli Corn Muffins!!

Honestly they are Chilli Corn Muffins to a person who associated muffins with sweets this was a full stop, my choice for today’s BlogHop,all the other delicious recipes that I have bookmarked will be tried later.

Here is the recipe that I have used.

Ingredients:

1 ½ cup corn flour

½ cup Maida

3 eggs

¼ cup corn kernels

1 onion, chopped

2 green chillies (could have used more)

4 flakes garlic

1 tsp chilli flakes

½ tsp oregano

3 leaves of basil

3 mint leaves

½ cup cheese

½ cup milk

1 tsp baking powder

 Salt to taste

Method:

1.     First I washed the corn kernels added enough water to cover the corn and salt and pressured cooked them for 2 whistles.

2.   Since I have one kid who does not like biting in chillies I decided to grind the chillies, garlic but since the quantity was too little for the mixer I added ¼ cup of onions, the oregano, mint and basil to make a fine paste.

3.     Preheat the oven to 180°C.

4.     Next mix both the flours and the baking powder and salt.

5.     Since I cannot fin the muffin papers here in Goa I decided to use the regular round mould (by hindsight I should have used a smaller one or the ice cream tray) greased   well.

6.     Beat the eggs and milk and mix in the flours till well incorporated.

7.     Fold the chilli paste, corn, cheese.

8.     Transfer to the mould and bake for 30 minutes.

9.     Once done let it sit in the tray for 10 minutes before turning it on the wire rack.

10.   If you are lucky family will wait for it to cool down, you can cut them and dish them beautifully else you get pictures like mine here.

Off these go to 

Archana

Padul Kai/Padval Bhajias or Snake Gourd Fitters

I never did like snake gourd as a child the only time I ate it was when Amma made Bhajias. Then too I ate the outer covering and managed to get rid of the insides.

The effort has unconsciously carried over and I still do not like it. But I have heard that it is a very healthy vegetable so I tried to rather unsuccessfully incorporate it in our diet.

Half the gourd is used to make a salad for my FIL and then that is the end.

On Ugadi/Gudi Padva day I remembered this bhajias.  I think I said 5 per head and made 20 pieces half expecting rejects I made potato bhajias too. Just imagine my surprise when both the girls ate and loved these more than the potato ones. In fact my younger kid is telling me to make some once more today as I was posting this recipe.

This is the last I saw these bhajias they were over before i could get a better photograph!!

Ingredients:

20 pieces of snake gourd cut in circle

1 cup besan/kadli hit/chana daal atta

¼ tsp ajwain

A pinch of soda

1 tblspn hot oil  

1 tsp Red chilli powder(adjust as per taste)

½ tsp haldi/turmeric

Salt

Oil for deep frying

Method:

1.       In a kadhai heat the oil.

2.       Mix the besan with ajwain, haldi/turmeric, salt, red chilli powder with a little water to make a thick batter.

3.       Add the soda and mix well.

4.       Add a tblspn of hot oil. The besan should bubble around the oil. Mix well.

5.        Dip the snake gourd in the batter and deep fry golden brown on both sides.

6.       Serve hot.