Raw Mango Relish

Although mangoes usually flood the market in April, I was pleasantly surprised to see some raw mangoes on the supermarket shelves. Very leathery from the outside and a softer pale yellow on the inside – when I chopped it all up into tiny cubes, the fruit smelled like summer. I kept trying to pair it with something unusual. I didn’t want it full of Indian spices – just something light and fragrant. Just then my eyes went on my pot of fresh mint – bright green, crisp and packed with flavour these leaves would be the perfect flavouring for my latest experiment.

Raw Mango Relish
Raw mangoes, finely diced.
A handful of fresh mint leaves, chopped finely.
Red chilli powder/paprika
Palm sugar/jaggery
Salt


In a bowl combine the ingredients together. For the recipe I intentionally haven’t given exacting measurements. This is because you must add the flavouring, just the way you like it – like how you’d treat salt and pepper. For me, just a tad bit of jaggery would be perfect – I absolutely like sourness to the point of squeezing my eyes shut. This is not how the rest of the guys at home prefer it, so I always have to reserve some of it before more of the jaggery is added. After all the ingredients are in the bowl, toss it well and let it sit in the refrigerator for about 40 minutes. You’ll notice that the relish has a nice glossy look about it and has absorbed the flavourings very well. Now you’re ready to go – just serve it with a sprig of mint!

After making this, I was amazed at how beautifully a handful of mint leaves transformed the mango. Inhaling the fragrance of both the flavours together is such a wonderfully heady feeling. I couldn’t stop sniffing it every once in a while. ;)

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Easy Peasy Apple Galettes

Beautiful autumn evenings through last week got me in the mood to make some apple galettes. I’ve always been a pie person – crumbly crust sitting in pretty while pie dishes with the traditional lattice that adds its quintessential charm. This time I decided to make galettes instead and realised how much fun they were and they are can be made so in a jiffy – no trimmings, no fancy patterns.

To add to the fun of making galettes, and to give me reason to make more of these, I did a little experiment of my own to test a few things.

Test 1:
One of the things I’ve be curious about is how the regular Indian Kashmiri apples would taste when baked as compared to the widely used Granny Smiths (not so easily available, double the price of regular apples).

Test 2:
The second thing I wanted to test was the difference an egg yolk would make when added to the dough. I just don’t feel too nice about breaking an egg and throwing the white down the sink. There are times I push it back into the fridge, promising myself that I’ll use it up soon enough, but that hasn’t happened yet.

So I made the different galettes. The first one with egg yolk in the dough and Granny Smiths; second with the yolk and the Kashmiri apples; and finally the third with the Granny Smiths, but without the egg yolk in the dough.

Result:
1. Granny Smith won hands down. Definitely don’t mind paying double the price for some very delicious pie filling with a nice bite to it. The Kashmiri apples tend to get mushy sooner, so maybe if I am stuck with using these I’d have to pull them out of the oven sooner.

2. The crust with the egg yolk was a thousand times better than the one without. Beatifully golden with a nice crumbly texture. I have never made a crust better than this one. This is so good, I am happy eating it all by itself too.

Apple Galettes
(Makes 2 medium sized galettes)

Galette Pastry:
200g/1 ½ cups flour
2-3 tbsp powdered sugar
100g/ 1 stick cold butter, cut into cubes
1 egg yolk, beaten
Ice water to combine the dough

Apple filling:
2 Granny Smith Apples, chopped into small chunks
1 tsp cinnamon
4 tbsp vanilla sugar
A handful raisins
A handful of pecans, chopped coarsely


Mix the sugar and flour together. Blend in the cold butter and the egg yolk with a pastry cutter. It’s faster when you use your hands, but be sure to do this quickly, we don’t want the butter to melt away or we lose the flaky texture. When the mixture looks like coarse breadcrumbs, add the ice cold water, a spoonful at a time, until the dough is just combined. Divide it into two and let it rest in the freezer for 10 minutes.

For the filling: Mix all the ingredients mentioned in a bowl.

Assembling:
Roll out the pastry dough into a circle of about 1/3 cm or 1/8 inch thickness. Make sure the dough is well floured so that it doesn’t stick. Place half the filling mixture in the centre of the rolled dough. Fold the edges of the dough over the apple mixture, sealing all the crevices. Transfer on to a baking sheet. Brush the galettes with egg wash and bake in a preheated oven (180ºC or 350ºF)

Now it’s time to eat! Enjoy the galette with vanilla icecream or whipped cream and a drizzle of caramel sauce. I took the easy way out by using Smuckers. :P

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Three Cheese Risotto

I’ve had my box of Arborio rice for almost over a year now, but never came around to making some risotto. Not because I’m not a fan, but because I was quite intimidated. The box of rice remained vacuum-sealed so I wasn’t so worried (once open, it is advisable that you store it in the refrigerator, else it will go bad really soon).

Once I got down to making it, it was fun. Indian readers, think of it as an Italian khichdi - no really, that’s all it is. ;-) What’s more, all the carbs and fat gets balanced off by the workout you get by stirring away rice and adding the broth ladle by ladle. That said, Alton Brown does say that you don’t really need to stir it constantly, but I’d just wanted to be absolutely sure the first time I made risotto. Another thing I only recently learned is that a quick way of making the risotto would be to cook it in a pressure cooker and it will be ready sooner than you think! The only thing I don’t like about risottos is that they cannot be made ahead of time since they absorb in all the moisture and the dish gets quite dry.

Risotto can be made with a lot many variations – with seafood, herbs, spices, mushrooms, cheese, and what have you. What’s interesting is that you don’t really need so add much cheese because the rice is extremely starchy; it assists in attaining that perfect creamy texture.

Some Risotto do’s and don’t:

1. Choose a heavy pan with a thick bottom and sides to help distribute heat evenly.
2. It’s best to buy thoroughly cleaned risotto rice because you want to avoid rising it as the creamy texture is attained by the starch on the rice.
3. It’s best to use homemade broth. Follow Alton Brown’s recipe – you won’t be disappointed.
4. Always let the broth simmer while adding it ladle by ladle. Keeping both, the rice and broth at similar temperatures will help in achieving the texture sooner; which means being kind to your arm. :)
   

Here I’ve tried to replicate a risotto I had at a local restaurant. It was extremely creamy and luscious 3 cheese risotto with asparagus and toasted hazelnuts (I’m not a fan of nuts in my food, but the hazelnuts give it an amazing bite to it – really shouldn’t omit it!)

Three Cheese Risotto with Asparagus and Hazelnuts

2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
400g Arborio rice
150 ml dry white wine
1.5l vegetable or chicken stock , simmering
60g asparagus, the tough ends trimmed and then blanched
2 tbsp butter
50g Pecorino Romano with truffle bits, grated
50g Gruyere cheese, grated
50g Parmigiano Reggiano, grated. Some more for the table.
30g hazelnuts, toasted

1. In a heavy bottomed pan heat the butter and oil together. Add the onion and cook on a low flame until soft and translucent
2. Add the rice and stir on a high heat for a few minutes. Keep stirring, or the rice will stick. Add the wine and stir until it has evaporated.
3. Turn down the flame now. Add the stock a ladle at a time. Keep stirring until all the stock has been absorbed, then add some more! You might not require all the stock, so keep checking on it. The grain should be nice and plump to look at and have a slight bite to it. I like to add a few spoonfuls of extra broth because I like my risotto to be a little looser than usual – you can avoid that if you like. Add salt if the broth is not salty enough. Also, add the asparagus at this point.
4. Turn off the heat and then beat in the butter and pecorino, gruyere and half the parmigiano reggiano cheese. Stir until everything has come together beautifully. Cover it with a lid for a minute. Then serve immediately. Stir in the hazelnuts just before serving. Top with the rest of the Parmigiano Reggiano cheese.
   

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