Rohini's Recipe Blog

 Crispy-spicy-sweet-tangy. We eat this with roti when Rob is inspired to make roti, and with rice otherwise.  Recipe  Cut, crosswise, into ~3/4 cm slices --- bhindi/okra, enough to yield ~4 cups when chopped In a large non-stick pan, heat --- neutral oil, ~4 tablespoons Add the chopped bhindi, and cook over medium-low heat, stirring every 2-3 minutes, until crisp. This could take 20-30 minutes. As the water evaporates and the bhindi begins to brown faster, you might want to turn the heat down. Add -- salt, ~1/4 teaspoon halfway through. When the bhindi is cooked through, crisp and slightly browned, add to the pan --- minced green chillies (birds-eye), 6-10 --- pressed (in a garlic pressed) or minced garlic, 4-5 cloves --- 1-2 teaspoons sugar (I use raw sugar, but white sugar will do well) --- 1-2 teaspoons pomegranate molasses (or 1 teaspoon amchur + a little extra sugar) Cook on low heat until the garlic has softened and the extra liquid from the pomegranate molasses has...

 This is my go-to comfort dinner. Recipe adapted from Leela Punyaratabandhu's recipe here . Not pretty, but so, so tasty. (I don't usually serve with sliced tomatoes, as pictured here; I had leftover tomato slices from BLT made that afternoon, and thought I might as well add some color to an otherwise monochromatic dish.) Recipe (serves two) Cook --- rice for two (our standard rice is white jasmine) Beat  — 4 eggs  with — 1 tbsp fish sauce — juice of 3/4 lime — lots of minced fresh chillies Heat in wok or frying pan -- oil, ~3 tablespoons add eggs and cook. When nearly set, add  — 1 tbsp butter  And mix to incorporate. Eat over rice.

 Because tomatoes!! Recipe Dry  --- romaine lettuce, 4-5 leaves per sandwich.  Use inner leaves with more crunchy "rib" and less floppy green bits. Trim top and bottom of each leaf.  In a frying pan, over medium-low heat, cook until crisp --- bacon, 2 slices per sandwich    toast --- bread (two slices per sandwich; I like white sourdough for this. I use the toaster if I'm making one sandwich and the broiler if I'm making two or more) Assemble sandwich; in order from the bottom: — One slice toast, spread top/inside with mayo — 2 slices cooked bacon -- 2-3 slices tomatoes;    salt and pepper   the tomatoes as soon as they go on — 4-5 leaves lettuce —  One slice toast, spread bottom/inside with mayo

 Because tomatoes!    We ate most of this with stale tortilla chips :-( But two days later, I ate the leftovers with fried eggs and toast.   Recipe Cut into smallish dice --- good tomatoes (I used 1&1/2 medium-sized heirlooms) Mince finely --- yellow onion (I used 1/2 a small onion) --- green chillies (I used 3 birds-eye) Mince coarsely --- cilantro/coriander leaves Combine chopped tomatoes, onion, chillies, cilantro in a bowl and add --- lime juice (I used the juice of one lime) --- sugar (I used 1 teaspoon) --- salt (I used 1/4 teaspoon) Allow mixture to stand for 15 minutes. (I've seen recipes, that, at this point, call for straining the liquid out, but I don't have the heart to do so. It's so flavourful!) Eat with chips, eggs, etc..

 After the recent success of this  tomato-eggplant casserole, I am all about toasted bread cubes as a binder-thickener. This new casserole is zucchini-onion baked in milk, thickened with bread and a little flour. The sweet mild flavor of the vegetables comes through well; parmesan and black pepper bring in just a little sharpness.     Recipe (Serves 2-3. I used a shallow oval casserole dish  whose long axis is ~12 inches and short axis is ~10 inches. ) Preheat oven to 400F Cut into roughly even pieces --- white bread (ideally something porous; I used ~1/2 of a long baguette, sliced thinly and then slices halved.) When oven is preheated, put bread pieces on a cookie sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes, until crisper. Set aside when out of oven. Keep oven on. Grease a shallow casserole dish Grate --- parmesan cheese, ~1/2 cup grated  Cut into very thin half-moons -- 2 small zucchini --- 1 large yellow onion Heat in a wide heavy pan, preferably non-stick ---...

 Tomatoes are, essentially, bags of flavorful juice; I would argue that the best soaker-upper of tomato juice is toasted white porous bread. I've been dreaming of this meal: slice tomato --- make toast -- butter toast -- put tomato slice on toast --- salt and pepper on tomato --- eat. I haven't done this yet --- I've tended to jazz up to BLT, or fried-eggplant sandwich , or eggplant-tomato salad on toast . Last night, I was moved by the tomato-toast spirit, but was simultaneously feeling that I really should put up a new recipe here. So I jazzed up yet again, and here we are.  No regrets! This casserole is delicious --- it has eggplant parmigiana vibes but is a lot more straightforward to make. The principle is from scalloped tomatoes , which I have never made but which sounds fantastic.  Recipe (I think that this should be very robust to large changes in proportions. I'm listing the proportions that I used. Made two 8-inch cake pans.) Preheat oven to 400F. Cut into ...

Perfect for late August/early September, when corn is in season but nights are cool enough that it does not seem ridiculous to make soup. I made it often last September and took one for the team by making it this evening, although it's only mid-August, to make sure I remember the recipe. Highly recommend! Tasty but very easy, very few ingredients, and all ingredients other than corn are common staples. Only worth making if the corn is tender and sweet, though. This serves 4 as an appetizer, 2 if it comprises a significant proportion of the meal. The recipe is very robust to messing around with proportions. You can jazz this up, but the beauty of the recipe lies in the fact that there's no need at all to do so.  Recipe  Cut the kernels off of -- 2 ears of corn (should be the good stuff) and scrape the "milk" that stays on the cob into the bowl/plate with the kernels. Mince, very finely, --- 1/2 a small yellow onion. Heat on medium-low, in a medium saucepan,  --- olive ...

  If you have leftovers, they're great at room temperature, e.g. for post-run picnic lunch at 9AM at Borderlands State Park.   Not quite authentic: for example, eggplant is baked in slices rather than fried. I make it with the tomato sauce that's always at hand in our freezer, which cuts this recipe down from "extremely daunting" to "some work, but do-able if you have a couple of hours (including baking time)". Tips for success: -- Don't skip the salting-the-eggplant step, we don't want to much moisture. -- For the same reason, don't use very wet mozzarella (I had wet mozzarella when I made this, so I patted it dryer with paper towels). -- Don't use too much mozzarella. -- Don't use too much sauce.  -- If you are not vegetarian, and keep fish sauce around, use it to season your tomato sauce. --- After baking, allow the casserole to rest for at least 15 minutes, to let it reabsorb its liquids. If you skip this step, it will be watery when...

 With tomato, mozzarella and basil. Yes, thematically similar to this salad on toast  (and, again, only worth making when tomatoes are at their peak), but sufficiently different and delicious to merit its own post. I just made it for lunch --- it took me a total of 40 minutes to make two sandwiches and eat one.  This is messy to eat --- drips juices everywhere. I recommend making it for yourself, and perhaps a loved one, but not making it for company :-) Tips for success --- Salt the eggplant before coating with flour, to draw out just enough moisture that the flour sticks on. Salt again after. --- Salt the slices of tomato as soon as they go on the sandwich. --- Use a good, ripe, in-season tomato. Recipe Cut into ~3/4 cm slices --- eggplant (3/4 of one large Japanese eggplant was enough for two sandwiches) Sprinkle with --- salt then dredge with a mixture of --- flour and cornstarch (okay to use just one, or any starch to substitute) and shallow-fry (in batches, if neces...

 Rob and I order this dish at Thmor Da (a Cambodian restaurant in Revere; likely our favorite restaurant in the Boston area). I tried to make a version yesterday, based on somewhat cursory internet research. It came out well but was TOO SPICY. Here's a recipe based on what I did yesterday, but modified to fix spiciness and other minor flaws.  This dish is a lot of fun to eat --- sharp and flavorful with lots of contrasting textures --- and quite easy to make. I'd recommend it for a quick summer dinner. I think it would be good with rice to soak up the juices but we ate it with corn since it's summer and we have corn.  The dressing contained powdered toasted rice; here's a picture of the toasted rice, pre-powdering.  Recipe (serves 2) Step 1: Marinate steak. Sprinkle --- kosher salt  over --- one small steak  (around 3/4 inch thick; I used rib-eye, which is my favorite) and let stand at least 30 minutes. Step 2: Toasted-rice poweder. In a heavy pan, toast...

Did not photograph but here is a picture taken on the coast north of Boston (photo credit: Rob Silversmith, many of the photographs on this blog were taken by Rob). Recipe for 2 eggs Heat over medium-low (preferably in a small nonstick saucepan or sauté pan; pan must have a well-fitting lid): — ~2 tablespoons olive oil, When hot but not too hot, add — 1-2 cloves garlic, pressed or minced Stir and allow to cook for 30-60 seconds. Should sizzle and turn a very light golden. Add — 1 large or 2 small tomatoes, cut in large dice Raise heat until mixture begins to boil, then reduce to medium-low. Cook for 15-20 minutes, adding a tablespoon of water from time to time if it gets too dry. Add — ~2 minced green chillies — pinch dhania-jeera (coriander-cumin) powder — pinch garam masala — ~1/2 teaspoon sugar — salt and/or fish sauce to taste — (Taste before deciding whether to add) few drops vinegar, either cider or wine Cook another couple of minutes. Then slip in two eggs, side by side. You can...

This recipe doesn't really need the mozzarella, but I add it to convince myself it counts as dinner. It's only worth making in the summer, when tomatoes and eggplant are  in season .  (This would have been more photogenic if I hadn't been greedy and piled the salad any-which-way on the toast.) Cut into ~1cm cubes  — 1 small eggplant And saute on medium-high heat in  — olive oil Until tender. Add — salt Midway through sautéing. Assemble in bowl — 3/4 pint cherry tomatoes, halved OR 1 mediuml tomato, cut into ~1cm cubes  — ~1 teaspoons sugar — coarse salt  — fish sauce (optional) — black pepper — ~1 tablespoon good vinegar: wine or apple cider — good olive oil, generous glugs — sautéd eggplant — 1 leaf basil, slivered, — fresh mozzarella, cut into ~1cm cubes  Allow to sit for ~15 minutes Serve on — toasted white bread

This is so tasty! I made it many times with eggplant in late spring, and without in early summer. Much easier without, and also crisper. Eggplant does add flavor though. Although the chicken is not deep fried, it gets crisp, more crisp-chewy than crunchy, though.  Notes for success: — DO NOT SCALE UP. Cooks best in a small batch. — Fry chicken on high-ish heat at first, then medium-high. Allow it to get crisp and golden before adding eggplant (if using), fry for several minutes while after adding eggplant, then fry on medium-low for a few minutes after adding sauce. — Use large non-stick pan to stir-fry.   Marinate for anywhere between 30 minutes and two days, but ideally one day: — two boneless chicken thighs, cut into bite-size pieces — 1 tbsp light soy sauce — 1/4 tsp grated ginger  — splash Chinese rice wine — ground black pepper (little) When ready to cook/marinated at least 30 mins, coat very well with  — tapioca (or corn or sweet potato or potato) starch ...

Great to have around: forms the basis of regular fried chicken dinners. Simmer  on low heat: — neutral oil (like peanut), around 1 cup — 5-10 broken red chilies, some seeds removed — 1-2 scallions, chopped into medium pieces — 3 cloves garlic, thin slices — 3-4 tablespoons sichuan peppercorns, coarsely ground — one bay leaf — one star anise — one cinnamon stick — few peppercorns — sliced ginger Leave on low heat for 30 mins. Should be sizzling, but not too much.  Take off heat. While still hot, strain into a bowl containing — roasted sesame seeds (optional) — red chili flakes Keeps for ages in a jar, even without refrigeration.

An indulgent lunch when working from home: Recently, I've made it more often than is reasonable.    Step 1: Scramble eggs, 1-1.5 per sandwich. Use, per egg ~ 1 tablespoon cream cheese ~ 1 tablespoon diced sharp cheddar ~ 2-3 minced green chilies ~ sprinkle salt In a non-stick saucepan, soften on low heat, stirring frequently — cream cheese Remove from heat, beat in, one at a time — eggs Add — salt Return to heat on medium, and scramble, scraping bottom and sides. As soon as the eggs begin to firm up, reduce heat to medium-low. Once firm, remove from heat and stir in cheddar and chillies. Step 2: Assemble sandwich.  Cut crusts off of — white sandwich bread (boring grocery store bread works very well here) Brush one side of each slice with  — olive oil (I use my fingers for this step) Stuff between two slices, with oily side on the outside — cream cheese scrambled eggs Toast on a cast-iron or nonstick pan, on low heat, turning and checking every 2 minutes at first, the...

I don't have photographs of the sauce, but here's one of pizza made with it! Edited to add: Just found photographs of the sauce-making process from last summer --- added them below. Use ripe, in-season tomatoes. We use the watery kind, which makes the yield heartbreakingly low, but the flavor deliciously concentrated. This sauce freezes well: last summer we made a lot and then used it for a newly-instituted weekly pizza night. It also meant we could make quick and delicious pasta dinners, and --- not quick, but not super daunting either --- eggplant parmagiana. Recipe for a 6-quart dutch oven: If you have two such, use the heavier one for step 2, and the lighter one for step 1. Step 1: Fill a 6-quart dutch oven with  — Tomatoes, cut into large chunks (I don't know how many pounds!) Sprinkle with  — 1/2 teaspoon salt  — 2 teaspoon sugar Add — 1/4 cup water Bring to a boil, boil for 20-25 minutes.  (Why Step 1: In order to remove skin and seeds. Cooking the tomatoes wi...

This took me about an hour to make and eat, but I had chicken marinating in the fridge. It was very tasty! Step 1: Marinate chicken  for 30 mins — 2 days.  Cut into bite sized pieces OR pound with a mallet until thinner — chicken thigh, 1 per sandwich Add, per thigh: — splash light soy sauce  — splash rice wine (optional) — sprinkle kosher salt — pepper — garlic, 1 clove, pressed or minced.  Mix well and set aside. Step 2: Pickle carrots.  Grate — carrots, 1 small per sandwich Add to carrots, to taste — minced green chillies — salt — vinegar (wine or cider) — sugar Let sit for at least 10 minutes. Step 3: Prepare chili mayo:  Mix -- Mayonnaise, 2 tablespoons per sandwich -- Garlic, pressed or minced, 1 small clove per sandwich -- Red chili powder, to taste Step 4: Dry romaine lettuce, 4-5 leaves per sandwich. Use inner leaves with more crunchy "rib" and less floppy green bits. Trim top and bottom of each leaf.  Step 5: Fry chicken once. H eat in a wok ...