Shashuka Eggs

Easter has just gone by. Easter always reminds me of Easter bunnies and Easter eggs. My Easter bunny is my 2.5 years old son Vihaan :-) and Easter eggs reminds of me of a dish called Shashuka eggs, which I have been willing to try since long time now.

Shashuka eggs is a dish of poached eggs in onion, tomatoes, bell peppers mixture. 

Shashuka means "a mixture" in Arabic language. More information about this dish is on wiki. 

I tried it for the first time and I have fallen in love with the dish. If I were to explain the dish in Indian style cooking, its poached eggs on top of onion, tomatoes, and bell pepper tempering, with the spice level of your choice.

Its a very simple and straight forward dish. Here is my take on preparing Shashuka eggs.

Ingredients:

• 3 to 4 tsp olive oil
• 1 red bell pepper and 1 yellow bell pepper, finely chopped.
• 3 tomatoes, finely chopped.
• 1 small onion, finely chopped.
• 2 green chilies, finely chopped.
• 3 to 4 eggs.
• 1 tsp cumin seeds.
• 1 tsp chili power.
• 1 tsp black pepper.
• 1 tsp garam masala.
• 2 tsp butter
• Salt to taste.

Method:

• Put a non-stick pan on medium heat. Add olive oil.
• Add cumin seed. Let them crackle. Roughly for 30 seconds.
• Add green chilies.
• Add onion. Saute them till translucent.
• Add tomatoes and bell peppers.
• Add red chilies, salt and black pepper.
• Add butter and mix them well. 
• Cook them with lid on. Roughly for 10 minutes or until the bell pepper becomes tender.
• Taste it and adjust the seasoning.
• Crackle the eggs on top of the tempering.
• Cook them for another 5 to 7 minutes with lid on. Or until the eggs are cooked to your desired consistency.
• And that's it.
• Serve it on top of a pizza base, or eat as it.

Pan seared chicken with boiled veggies

They say Indian food is awesome, insanely delicious, divine texture, great combination of exotic spices but... its very heavy and not healthy (because of the over use if oil, ghee and spices) especially for weight watchers. You know what would my response to that be? I agree, I would say :-). 

After watching Masterchef US all 5 seasons back to back (Yeah I know I am crazy), I decided to cook some healthy yet delicious dishes. Mind you this is my first time on this dish but after tasting the final dish its not the last time I will cook it.

I have been observing my weight since my childhood. But now I have realized if I keep consuming Indian food I am ought to gain weight. I know it sounds harsh but I am sorry its the reality :-). 

This dish is so light that my tummy is very happy with the dinner tonight :-) and is still craving for more :-)

Ingredients 

• 400 gms boneless chicken.
• Salt and black pepper. 
• Fresh coriander finely chopped. 
• Fresh vegetables of your choice. I took carrot, spinach, cauliflower, broccoli. 
• Olive oil, a cube of butter. 
• 1 clove of garlic. 
• 1 small tsp cumin seeds. 
• Lemon zest. And lemon juice. 
• Sweet chili sauce and mustard sauce. 
• And lots of love. 

Method

Pan seared chicken

• Take a pan on high heat. 
• Add 2 to 3 tsp olive oil. 
• Add cumin seeds. Let them crackle. Roughly 30 seconds.
• Season the chicken breast with salt and black pepper. 
• Lay chicken breast away from you on the pan. 
• Cook it for 2 minutes then flip them over. 
• Cook it for another 2 minutes on the other side then flip again. 
• Add butter. Add garlic. Add coriander leaves. 
• Reduce the heat to medium. 
• Cook it for 4 minutes with lid on. 
• Add lemon zest at this stage. 
• Flip the chicken and cook for another 4 minutes with lid on. 
• Take chicken out and let it rest for few minutes. 
• Chicken keeps cooking while it rests. 

Boiled veggies 

• Take a deep pan. Fill with water. Bring the water to a running boil. Add a pinch of salt. 
• Add all cut veggies but spinach. 
• Cook them with lid on for 7 to 8 mins. 
• Towards the end add spinach. Cause spinach takes no time to boil. 
• Plate the veggies out. 
• Plate them together, the way I have shown it. Season it with mustard sauce, sweet chili sauce and a touch of lemon juice.

Yummy treat for an extra hour

Finally its that time of the year when you want to save some more day light. Its time to roll forward your watches by an hour. How beautiful the longer days look! You can do so much more with that extra hour. Its time to enjoy the sun bit more. Its time to be happy for an extra hour. Its time to enjoy the company of your loved ones for an extra hour. If you are one of those lazy chaps then you get some more time to be a tad lazier :-). Its 6 pm already and sun is still shining as if summer is calling me out. 

It feels so refreshing. Feels like eating an ice cream or sipping a chilled beer or how about making a dessert for yourself :-).

As I already promised to come up with a doable dessert soon, so here I am with my first hand experience at a dessert. 

Ingredients

• 1 big apple diced. 
• 4 to 5 red strawberries. Take fruits of your choice.
• 50 gms any Sugar. 
• 2 to 3 pieces of your favorite chocolate. 
• Honey and flavored yogurt for plating.

Method

• Put a pan on medium heat. 
• Pour a small cup of water and add 50 gms sugar. 
• Add diced apples and strawberries 
• Mix them well in sugar syrup 
• Cook them with lid on for just 5 minutes or till apples become tender. 
• Take the lid off and add 2 pieces of chocolate. 
• Let the chocolate melt. This will give out chocolate brown color to the mix. 
• Add crumbled sweet bread of your choice. 
• Mix them well. 
• And that's it. Plate it and refrigerate.  

Let's plate up

I decided to plate them in two different styles. 

I am not an expert on desserts. I took inspiration from one of the dishes by Gordon Ramsay and added my twist of sweet bread and yogurt. I hope you will like the dessert.