Sunday, May 24, 2009

Akbar Ali Sandwich




This is one of my favorite brunch recipes. I learnt how to make these sandwiches from my mom. The sandwich is a variation of a type thats sold in the Akbar Ali area of Mumbai and thus the name. My mom made this for us when she came to stay with us when Sahana was born. Its a layered vegetarian sandwich but you can definitely modify and add whatever you want to it.

Ingredients

Bread: white or wheat

Fillings
1/2 cucumber fineyl chopped
1 tomato finely chopped
grated cheddar cheese
One onion sliced
Two large potatoes, sliced thinly
Butter or butter spread
Oil

Method
Add oil to a pan. Saute sliced onions till golden. Add sliced potatoes. Season with salt and pepper and cook till potatoes are done.

Chutney
1 cup cilantro
1/4 cup coconut
1 pod garlic
1 tsp sugar
salt to taste
lime juice
Grind all these ingredients to a fine paste using water.


Assembling the sandwich.
Toast the bread. Take one slice of bread. Apply butter. Add generous amount of the chutney. For layer one add chopped cucumber and tomatoes and a little bit of cheese.

Take another buttered toast place on top of the first layer and add onion potato filling and a little bit of cheese. At this layer you can add tomato ketchup if you like. Top with another buttered toast.

Place the club sandwich on a hot pan greased with oil spray. Press down the sandwich using a spatula. Do this on both sides.

Remove from heat. Cut in half and serve with more chutney and ketchup.
I couldn't resist it: look i even took a bite out of it before I was done taking pics.

Saturday, May 2, 2009

Mango and Vanilla Ice cream




Between the 2-3 hour feeding cycles, I managed to find some time to surf the web for random baby items and kitchen appliances. I found this ice cream maker up for grabs on craigslist. I have been wanting one for ages and finally got a brand new one at half the price. Since moving to Seattle I have started to appreciate the importance of recycling, reuse and thrift store shopping to reduce waste in the world. Remember: one person's trash is another person's treasure!! With this began my attempts at making ice-cream. I wanted all the recipes to be vegetarian since raw eggs are not something lactating moms want to use. Here are my recipes for mango and vanilla ice cream.



Mango Ice cream

Ingredients (All ingredients should be cold)

2 cup heavy cream
1 cup whole milk
1 cup chopped mangoes
3/4 cup mango puree/pulp
3 tbslp sugar

Method
This method is for my ice cream maker. Just follow instructions for your ice cream maker. Put ice cream maker insert in the freezer wrapped in saran wrap for atleast 24 hours. I tend to store mine in the freezer that way its always ready when I need it. If you don't have one, freeze the ice cream in the freezer and blend in the blender 2-3 times between freezes.
Combine all ingredients together. Chill in the freezer for 30 minutes to chill through but not freeze. Add into ice cream maker and churn according to manufacturer instructions. In my ice cream maker I churn for about 20 minutes. Move into an air tight container and store in the freezer for an hour if you want the ice cream harder.

Vanilla Ice cream

Ingredients (All ingredients should be cold)


2 cup heavy cream
1 cup whole milk
1 vanilla bean (i buy mine online from Penzeys spices)
3/4 cup sugar

Method

Slit vanilla bean length wise and using a thin knife scrape out the " vanilla meat" in the bean. Add the vanilla into the milk along with the left over bean. Warm the milk In a medium saucepan over low heat with vanilla. Remove from heat and remove bean. Cool milk in the fridge. Add cold cream and sugar. Combine and chill in the freezer to chill through but not freeze. Add into ice cream maker and churn according to manufacturer instructions. I churn for about 20 minutes. Move into an air tight container and store in the freezer for an hour if you want the ice cream harder.