All posts tagged: cooking

Mama’s made dinner

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This mama has learnt to cook for her baby. And is super proud. Preparing baby food is really simple. But I must have done hours of reading before gathering the courage to actually make it myself and feed it to my baby girl. Here is one I prepare for dinner which she loves. Stage 1 Homemade Baby Food – Sweet potato with carrots 1 cup diced sweet potato – washed and peeled 1/2 cup diced carrots – washed and peeled Add ingredients into a saucepan and pour water just enough to cover the food Cook until food is soft – soft so that carrots and potatoes are nearly disintegrating I usually use a pressure cooker to cook allowing for at least 3 whistles. In my first two attempts, I did not cook it enough and ended up with a not-so-smooth puree and my LO basically choked on her food. Failed big time there (and I nearly got a heart-attack) Strain the water out but do not throw it Puree the cooked veggies into a smooth paste. Use the …

Crunchy salad mix – Nepalese style

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I’ve got no name for this dish. But it’s my mum making and its super yum. And best of all, its so easy. What you need: 1 cup julienned carrots 1/2 cup julienned white raddish 2 cup chopped cabbage 1/2 cup chopped onions 1/2 cup chopped tomatoes 1/3 cup chopped coriander 1/3 cup peas 1/2 lemon 1 tblspoon fenugreek seeds 1 tblspoon sesame seeds 1 tblspoon sweet chilli sauce 2 fresh green chillies chilli powder salt Preparation Soak the fenugreek seeds overnight. Dry roast the sesame seeds and grind it on a pestle. Then mix all the ingredients together, squeeze some lemon, salt and chilli powder to get some kick in. Then toss. That’s it! Fresh as spring! This would be perfect to go alongside a bbq or grill.  

Methi ko Achaar

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My mum is currently over in Australia living with us for a few months. And while she is having a ball taking care of her first granddaughter, I am trying to take advantage of her presence in my kitchen and take note of any of her Nepalese/Newari cooking. This particular pickle doesnt just burst with flavours, it literally explodes! And a big hit on the table. As with most of the Nepalese recipes on this site, I warn you, its not for the faint hearted as this one is spicy!  (My Nepalese brothers and sisters craving for more spice, you are welcome 😀 ) Here we go: Roast & grind the seeds: 1 tablespoon fenugreek seeds 1/2 teaspoon thyme seeds 1/2 teaspoon sesame seeds Roast them all and grind them in a pestle Heat 1 tablespoon oil in frying pan. To that, add in 3 cloves of garlic and about a 1cm of garlic sliced, 3 dried chillies broken into small pieces, a pinch of turmeric. Remove from heat, once the garlic is slightly charred. (Keep your exhaust …

Homemade Nepalese raddish pickle – Not for the faint hearted

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So this is a raddish pickle often found in most Nepalese kitchen. If you cannot stand spice the smell of radish, or have a sensitive stomach, this is definitely not for you. I prepared this pickle following a couple of recipes online (see links below). I will have to admit the output was nothing close to my grandma’s pickle but not bad for a first attempt. And this “not-so-perfect” output has nothing to do with the recipes I followed but it was more because of I believe I didn’t go right with the proportion of ingredients I used. I hope to perfect it in my second attempt but here is how I went anyway: Ingredients: 700gms of radish – peeled and thick julienne cut 3 green chillies – cut lengthwise 2 tablespoons of roasted sesame seeds (I actually used 4 spoons of sesame and that was a bad, bad decision. I know I should have halved this) 1 tablespoon of turmeric powder 2 tablespoon of chilli powder 4 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced. And the same amount …

I had a bag of carrots…

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One fine weekend, I noticed a bag of carrots in the fridge – waiting to expire. And then, this mini magic happened – A carrot cake! I followed the recipe from this link on taste.com.au (my bible for all food adventures). The changes I made were adding in extra carrots, cinnamon and walnuts. Instead of 250gm cream cheese, I only used 140gm. It was more than sufficient. Link: http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/15406/carrot+cake Super easy for a once-in-a-blue-moon baker.   And as you can see, it turned out great! My first “good looking” cake.   nom..nom..  

‘Goldbera ko Achaar’ – my new found love

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I miss my mom’s home cooked Nepalese food. In several attempts to be like her… I have earned myself the title of a ‘disaster chef’. But I am getting better at this… for real. A typical Nepalese dinner of rice & curry is usually accompanied by ‘Goldbera ko Achaar’ which directly translates as Tomato Pickle. But its not really a pickle since its not fermented. In fact, its more of a salsa since its a fresh mix of tomato with herbs and spices, with a Nepalese twist of course. And this ‘goldbera ko achaar’ is my new found love. I thought I would share this – especially for my sister – and all those that miss the feel of a typical Nepalese dinner. Get your ingredients together: 2 ripe medium sized tomatoes. 1 small/medium old whiting fish (optional). 3 red chillies. 4 cloves of garlic. about 10-15 stalks of coriander (or as you like it). 1/2 a medium sized lemon. Roast them: The tomatoes – Cut up the tomatoes into 5 pieces each and grill them on …

Tofu and Shiitake Mushroom Stir-Fry

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Making a vegetarian dish is always a challenge in our kitchen. And being so accustomed to preparing spicy Nepalese food, creating a dish that does not use loads of turmeric, or cumin or loads of chillies is also always a challenge. But I nailed this particular dish without the heavy use of the usual himalayan spices. This was the tofu and shiitake mushroom stir fry recipe that I found on the bon appetit website. To be honest, this was my second attempt. (Let’s not remember how the first attempt went… *sigh*) I don’t think its worth detailing the recipe again as I followed the method word to to word on this site: http://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/stir-fried-tofu-and-shiitake-mushrooms-in-spicy-black-bean-sauce I followed the recipe ditto except: used 950gm *3 gms of regular firm tofu doubled the rest of the ingredients forgot the leek also forgot the cilantro, so added some baby peas for some ‘color’. The name of the recipe says “spicy” but honestly it wasn’t. My 4 year old nephew ate it without hesitation. I had guests ask me for the recipe, so seems like it was …

Nepalese waa

The blessed ‘waa’ pancake

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Nepalese are foodies. Especially the Newar community among the Nepalese – like me. Living away from home, I specially miss mum’s cooking – the spices, the chillies, the curries … So any chance I get, I jump on to making Newari dishes. And one fine day, the blessed“waa” (pronounced as the wa of water) was made in my kitchen. Waa is basically black lentil pancake made with or without minced meat. Back in Nepal, Waa is a delicacy served as a snack or an entree. Its not really a very fancy dish, so that often makes me wonder why its only reserved for special occasion. Anyways, as a reminder to myself and to anyone wanting to attempt it, here is the recipe: Make sure you have these: 1.5 cup split black lentils / urad daal This made about 20 waa 250 gm chicken mince 1 tbsp  each of finely minced ginger and garlic 1 tsp each of coriander and cumin powder 2 – 3 finely chopped green chillies – this really depends on your taste 1/4 cup  finely chopped green coriander 5 – 6 stalks of spring …

Nepalese chicken curry

Nepalese Chicken Curry

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I am often asked what a typical Nepalese meal is like. And my answer is simple – Lots of rice and curry, needless to say with lots of spices. I thought I would share this Nepalese style chicken that I made for dinner today and is quite a regular one in every Nepalese kitchen. What you need: 6 chicken drumsticks – skin removed, each chopped into 3 pieces, washed and drained 1 large onion – sliced 1 large tomato – sliced 1 cup green peas 1/2 cup carrots diced Usually there is coriander to garnish but I am not too fond of it, so I never add it 🙂 2 fresh red chillies vegetable oil all the usual nepalese spices – cumin powder, chilli powder/flakes, turmeric powder How its done: Heat up a saucepan or a crockpot, add about 4 tablespoons of oil. Add a teaspoon of tumeric. Once the oil has heated add in fresh chopped chillies along with the chilli flakes (we love it hot!) and the onions as well. Then goes in …

Kheer – a creamy nutty dessert

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I created history in my kitchen again with my another “first”. I made the ‘Kheer’. This is Nepalese special-occasion-only dish, generally served as main meal for lunch. I always hated it because it is so milky & warm & sweet, until recently I tasted a different version of this Kheer served as a dessert. It was creamy rather than milky. It was chilled. It was still sweet but with a nutty flavour to it. It was a friend’s recipe. So of course, I borrowed it. And she was nice enough to detail the whole process. It took me about 2 hours. No kidding. Ingredients Full cream milk- 2 lt Rice- 2 fist full Sweetened condense milk- 80ml Almonds- coarsely ground- 1/3 cup Saffron threads- 1 pinch ( a very small pinch- say about 8-10 threads) Pistachio- coarsely ground- 1 and half table spoon ( pls make sure it’s unsalted- learnt the hard way:)) Cardamon I/4 teaspoon Save some nuts to decorate at the end. Method Soak rice in a bowl big enough to mash the rice roughly. In …