The Quick Cook: 60 Minute Menus

Copyright © 2014 by Sabita Radhakrishna.

Photographs by Sivaraj Gopinath

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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Partridge India

000 800 10062 62

www.partridgepublishing.com/india

Contents

Acknowledgements

Introduction

How to Use this Book

Weights and Measures

Kitchen Equipment

Pre-Preparation

Basic Procedures And Recipes

SPICE POWDERS

Chilli–Coriander Powder

Sambar Powder

Molagapodi

Yellu Podi

CurryVeppillai Podi

Puliyodorai Powder

Garam Masala Powder

BREAKFAST RECIPES

Bread Toast

Green Toast

Bread Packets

Eggs

Scrambled Eggs

Omelette

Cheese

Whole-Wheat Pancakes

INDIAN BREAKFASTS

Rava Uppumav

Dosai

Godumai Dosai

Rava Dosai

Oothappam

Ragi Dosai

Kancheepuram Idli

Adai

Idli

Poori

Roti

Urulakazhangu Puttu

Sabudana Khichdi

Poha Khichdi

CHUTNEYS

Thengai Chutney

Thakkali Chutney

Daangar Chutney

Getti Thuvaiyil

Vengaya Chutney

Pudina Thuvaiyil

Poondu Thuvaiyil

Kathrikkai Thuvaiyil

Carrot Chutney

MAIN MENUS

Rice, Vegetable Sambar, Potato Fry and Tangy Salad

Vegetable Soup, Tomato Dal, Fried Okra and Roti

Bisibelehuliana, Cucumber Pachidi and Papad

Coconut Rice, Potato–Green Pea Curry and Pachidi

Greens with Dal, Bittergourd Fry and Puliyodorai

Light Pulao, Tomato Curry and Pudina Pachidi

Vegetable–Semolina Pulao, Potato Cutlets and Kachumbar

Paneer Bhujiya, Phulka and Sprouted Moong Salad

Palak Paneer, Zucchini with Tomato and Pudina Roti

Beetroot Soup, Baked Cauliflower and Garlic Bread

Baked Bean Soup, Tomato–Cheese Soufflé and Sautéed Broccoli

Cottage Cheese Casserole and Cole Slaw

Potato and Cheese Pie and Pasta Salad with Italian Dressing

Pasta with Mushrooms and Pepper Capsicum

Mulligatawny Soup, Zucchini with Dal and Roti

Golden Soup, Spinach on Toast and Baked Aubergines

Mutton Biryani and Raita

Pepper Chops, Glazed Carrots and Baked Bean Salad

Orange-Marinated Mutton Roast, Mashed Potatoes and Mixed Salad

Mushroom Soup, Crumbed Chicken and Avocado Salad

Broccoli Soup, Chicken Crostini and Pasta and Capsicum Salad

Gazpacho and Chicken Salad

Pasta with Chicken and Mushrooms in Lemon Sauce

Pepper Chicken, Mushroom Curry and Rice

Fish Terrine and Lemon Broccoli

Stir-Fried Penne with Tuna and Potato Salad

Fish Molee, Lobia and Papaya Salad

Grilled Vegetable Platter, Fried Fish and Lime Rice

Masala Seer Fish and Russian Salad

Spinach-Filled Mushrooms and Pattra ni Machchi

DESSERTS

Baked Bananas

Chocolate Soufflé

Walnut Cheesecake

Bread Pudding

Orange Salad

Lime Pudding Cake

Baked Apples

Bread Ice Cream

Orange Chocolate Mousse

Baked Alaska

Sweet Fritters

Grape Jelly

Raisin Bars

Plain Victoria Sponge

Sauces For Ice Creams

Rava Kesari

Semiya Payasam

Glossary of Ingredients

Cooking Terms and Cookware

This book is dedicated to my daughter-in-law

Anindita, to help reduce her work in the kitchen,

as she juggles with the various roles in her life.

And to my daughter Deepika,

who has been with me in spirit from the

start of the book to its end.

Acknowledgements

A s always I am deeply grateful to my family at home, particularly my husband and my mother, without whose support I could not have had the focus to write this book. I thank my children and my grandchildren who have enjoyed my cooking and served as an inspiration to ‘disseminate knowledge’ towards perfecting culinary skills.

I acknowledge with gratitude the help rendered by my young friend Deeptha Thattai, who was a precious find, discovered by chance. A stickler for perfection, Deeptha re-formatted the original script and with her meticulous concern for detail, her editing has also been impeccable.

I cannot forget friends and family who have eaten at our table and who have given me valuable suggestions and constructive criticism, which only served to propel me towards meticulous writing.

Lastly, I thank my young friends ‘the testers’, who have timed each menu and come back to me with their comments.

Introduction

W hen you write a book that has been well received and which won an international award, you get tempted to write another. But I really did not dream that I would get into the slot of writing cookbooks. My daughter, Deepika, and daughter-in-law, Anindita, would frequently ask me how they could cook a sumptuous meal without having to sweat it out in the kitchen. I tried to tell them that it comes from experience, but realised that such ‘lofty’ statements needed to be qualified with concrete suggestions and tips, which I had learned over the years. That was the start of a collection of my own innovated quick-cooking recipes and some gathered from like-minded friends.

Pre-preparation is the backbone of quick cooking, and with so many ingredients available in the Indian market, together with the wide variety of appliances, slogging in the kitchen is not necessary. At the same time, a meal should be served with élan. Presentation is important, and however tasty a dish, it’s the little garnishes and personal touches that make the food look so tempting that the gastric juices begin to flow.

The book contains thirty menus, both vegetarian and non-vegetarian.

The non-vegetarian recipes carry vegetarian substitutes, so vegetarians need not get put off! The dishes in the menus can be interchanged according to one’s preferences. I take a great deal of pleasure in preparing an inter-community mix of fare, and have not been rigid in maintaining regional traditions in my menus. The recipes are a mix of north, south, east and west.

I have also taken into account the nutritional values of the dishes, as young mothers constantly worry whether they are giving their families, especially growing children, the right kind of food; and working mothers wonder if meals cooked in a hurry would contain the right nutritional values.

Basic gadgets and equipment that help to cut down on time in the kitchen and without which it is impossible to finish cooking a meal quickly have been listed. The preparation of each meal should not take more than an hour, and while the cooking takes place, clearing up can be done, and the table laid. Every recipe has been tried out and timed. Some of the recipes are totally innovated and some are traditional. One should not be disheartened when preparation takes longer than the time mentioned, as not everyone is gifted with speed and it needs practice. Moreover, experience is the best teacher. Have as much fun preparing meals in a jiffy just as I did in putting this book together.

How to Use this Book

I nnovation plays an important role in cooking quickly and efficiently, and that is what this book is about. I hope that you will discover more ways than I have listed to cut down on time in the kitchen, as you go along and gain experience. If a dish has turned out exceptionally well, in a relatively short time, it is worthwhile noting down the details, ingredients that were varied etc. so that you can make it more often. Your own variations written alongside an original recipe make the recipe yours and yours alone. Salt, spice and sugar can be toned down or heightened according to one’s personal preferences.

Some of us are hesitant to use a cookbook for the simple reason that the instructions seem so complicated. We look for cookbooks that have clarity and simplicity. This book is intended for those who are relatively new to cooking a meal, and for whom it means untold drudgery to complete a full menu. It is also meant for those who feel they are slow, and wish that they could speed up the process. And for those who are frantic at the start of the day not knowing what to cook, I have suggested complete menus, which you can follow; or you can just choose one or two dishes from them that you would like to cook.

The instructions are presented in such a way that you cook the two or three dishes of the menu simultaneously, organising your time in such a manner that the preparation for one dish is done while another is being cooked. Even the common all-time favourites can take time to prepare. But they can be done efficiently and faster with a sense of time management. So just follow the methods described and see how quickly a meal gets ready!

I have given the instructions in numerical order for each menu and if you follow the sequence, the meal can be cooked quickly. The instructions for the individual recipes in the menus are in different font types and each one is also identified by a letter so that you know which recipe you are working on.

The font typing also helps you extract a single recipe if you want to try out only one dish from a menu.

For example, in menu 3:

B stands for Bisibelihuliana and is in normal type font

C stands for Cucumber Pachidi and is in bold

P stands for Papad and is in italics

Each of the recipes serves four to six. For a family of four you may have leftovers, which you can serve at the next meal, as very few housewives today have the time or patience to cook twice a day.

Weights and Measures

I would describe cooking as creative artistry, with individual touches making one’s dishes unique. The palate fortunately makes allowances for such minimal variations! I have given accurate measures for traditional recipes, which I have standardised to produce more or less the same taste as those produced by our grandmothers. But the mode of cooking has been modified to cut down on preparation and cooking time.

Variation is advised according to one’s taste. For instance, salt, sugar, tamarind and the ‘degree of hotness’ are such debatable ingredients. Though all these ingredients have been quantified in each recipe, it is up to the cook to determine the exact quantities according to his or her taste. Some families use very little salt, some cannot stand food that is too spicy or too sour and so on… so all these ingredients—salt, sugar, chilli and tamarind—can be adjusted according to personal preferences.

Most of my recipes bear cup or spoon measures, as I personally find it easier to follow them, rather than squinting at weighing scales when one is in a hurry. However, some recipes call for weighed ingredients.

When measuring by volume in spoons and cups, you should scoop up the required ingredient, and level it with a knife. Never pack the ingredient tightly into the cup, nor use a heaped measure unless mentioned. When you measure flour, gently tap the cup on a hard surface so that the flour levels, but again, do not pack it in. Use the same cup or spoon to measure the ingredients in any one recipe.

Seasoned cooks