DIY-LET'S SPROUT

After my "starvation week"at Devaaya Ayurvedic Retreat in Goa, I started to appreciate sprouts. It happened the very day they decided to make a little variation on my diet: no more clear vegetable soup for breakfast but a big bowl of warm, unseasoned and crunchy sprouts.

Let me tell you that I was very happy and the first two days of sprouts my jaw was in pain. It seems that swallowing only liquids for a certain period of time, makes your jaw "unfit". Finally, I put it back to work with some biting exercise. Eating something with a crunchy texture, at that point of time, was paradise...

So, this is why, I decided to include sprouts into my diet and I mostly eat them in big, tasty and colorful salads.

If I didn't persuade you yet, here are 5 health benefit of sprouts:

1. Rich in essential nutrients, which means a loads of vitamins (A, B1, B6, C, K) and minerals (phosphorus, Magnesium, Potassium and Calcium). Not enough? Let's add some Omega-3 fatty acid, some dietary fiber and Folate (vitamin B9) too.
2. High in protein, but vegans and vegetarians already know that. In fact, they can contain up to 35% of vitamins.
3. Excellent source of enzymes, which can keep our body healthy and fit. If cooking food results in the loss of some enzyme, eating fresh sprouts is a good way to acces to all those enzyme.
4. Easy to digest, because of this "enzyme party". Good for young and elderly people.
5. Good for weight loss, reach in proteins and fibers and low in calories.

That was convincing, wasn't it?

The Basic of Sprouting
Dry seeds are dormant. Soaking them ends theirs dormancy and begins a new life. By “awakening” the seed, we are actually eating all of the live potential energy of the sprout.

• Soak the seeds overnight in a bowl with water.
• The next morning, drain water and rinse with fresh water once or twice.
• Place them in a cheesecloth, sprouting bag or sprouting jar without any water.
• Every morning and night rinse with fresh water.
• Ensure the sprouts never dry up, and repeat process until your desired length or age of sprout.
• Rinse out with fresh water before using them.

Now, you can eat them raw, stir-fried or boiled. If you decide to eat them raw, you will be gifted with all benefits I mentioned before. If you are going to cook them, forget about nice friendly enzyme and couple of things more. 

Why, anyway, would you cook sprouts? I came across articles about sprouts (especially mung beans) carrying Salmonella, Listeria and E.Coli. Probably, that pinch of hypochondria is too enlighted in my personality, therefore I don't really feel confortable with the thought of eating raw sprouts. And honestly, I like them cooked. 

Here, my lovely Sprouts Salad Recipe.

Images: wikimedia, pangravykadaicurry

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FARFALLE AL TONNO - PASTA WITH TUNA

Farfalle al tonno is one of the simplest recipe with pasta. It's fast and it needs a few ingredients only.
Today, I decided to experiment a variation of the original recipe by adding a bit of fresh cream. It taste great, softening the fish flavor and integrating the sauce ingredients. Yes, it was a smart one... 

You will notice some italian cooking terms that I didn't translate in english because the litteral translation didn't really satisfy me. 

Soffritto is a basic thing in Italian cuisine and the principal ingredients are 3: olive oil, onion and garlic - sautée. There are different types of soffritto depending on the dish. For example the soffritto for risotto will have: olive oil, onions, garlic, carrots and celery.

Mantecare is another word usually referred to risotto and pasta dishes. Basically, it can be translate with mixing, blending and incorporating - in order to get a creamy texture.

Let's try it!

Time: 20-30 minutes
Ingredients:

• Pasta
• Tuna in can
• 4 Tomatoes or Tomatoe Sauce
• Onion
• Chilly
• Garlic
• A bit of Fresh Cream  
• Olive Oil
• Salt and Pepper

Preparation:

• Cook the pasta in boiling salted water.
• Fry a few cloves of garlic and some chilly in olive oil. Chop the onion fine and add to it.
• Drain the oil/brine out of the tuna can, smash the tuna with a fork and add it to the soffritto. Let it fry along the onion and garlic so that it releases its flavor.

• If you use fresh tomatoes, here's a smart advice given by Deliciously Directionless: to have a fresh tomatoes puree, grate them! Add the tomatoes fresh puree or sauce into the frying tuna and let it cook till all the water released by tomatoes will evaporate. Add salt and pepper to taste.

• Drain the cooked pasta and keep aside some boiling water. 
• Add the fresh cream and few tbs of boiling water into the tuna sauce which is on a law flame. Add the pasta and let it mantecare for few minutes.

• Serve it hot.

If you have any suggestion or question you know how to find me.

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SUSHI, GOA AND OFF SEASON? I KNOW WHERE

Only sushi lovers can really understand what happen inside the head while experiencing the withdrawal symptoms of sushi. It's about chemicals reaction into the brain. Sometime, you get this "sushi call" and you cannot ignore it.

I've to say that sushi is also a food to be boycotted. Yes... taking the risk of being hypocrite, let me remind you the mercury contamination or massive degradations of fish species and the environmental impact that the sushi trend implies, just to say few. Eventually, we should boycott almost every food which is sold in the supermarket or restaurant, become vegetarian and engage ourselves in organic farming during our day off. Good luck with that.

Besides being a true sushi lover, I'm grateful to say that here in India, the Japanese speciality it's not available at every corner. Not like in many other countries. You do find sushi, but most of the time it sucks and it is overpriced. Being addicted is one thing, eat expensive shit is another.

Anyway, last night I was in the middle of these withdrawal symptoms from sushi and I couldn't really help it. Indeed, I infected my hubby. Like two junkies, we were going through the net in search of some restaurants in North Goa, calling each and every number we've got from the web. All restaurants were closed, under renovation or disappeared!

This is Goa during off season, a big contrast to the high season - so efficient, versatile, resourceful, multipurpose and handy.

The only solution available was the Tamari Restaurant at Vivanta by Taj, in Panjim. Awesome food, enchanting atmosphere but too far and too expensive. We decided to have some chinese food for consolation and we started to ride towards Calangute. On the way, a huge advertising board (and if you know Goa, you know what I mean for "huge advertising board") picturing the cutest tuna nigiri ever was waiting for us. That's how we came to know about Pan Global.

Pan Global is located at Neelams The Grand in Calangute. What makes this restaurant unforgettable are the chefs: handpicked to provide an authentic taste and experience from each known gastronomic location since the range of food varies from Mediterranean, Mexican, Arabic, Oriental and Japanese.

We order one mixed sushi plate (rolls, nigiri and sashimi, INR800 appx.) and two sashimi plate (tuna and salmon, INR500 per plate). It wasn't the best sushi of my life but it didn't suck either. We decided to order something else and we had the best baked salmon steak with garlic sauce ever, for the modest price of INR500... all washed down with a good bottle of white wine.

Here at Pan Global, you dine in an elegant atmosphere, you choose from an exclusive à la carte menu and you eat delicious international standard world cuisine, a combo achieved only by few restaurants in Goa.

Enjoy and let me know!

Images: Neelams The Grand, tripadviser

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CHATUCHAK MARKET IN BANGKOK

Tammy Faye Bakker once said: "I always say shopping is cheaper than a psychiatrist".

Damn, I cannot disagree with her!

If you are visiting Bangkok, the Chatuchak market is a MUST. Not just because it is one of the largest market in the world but also, things you can shop here you will not find anywhere else. Trust me.

For the bazaar freak, the Chatuchak market is a dream come to reality and the experience will be an epic!

Every week-end 8 thousand stalls occupy an area of almost 300 acres and more than 200 thousand visitors walk between stands till exhausted and then crash in one of the restaurants.

The market is enormous and it is very easy to loose the sense of direction: you happen to walk the same route over and over again. Don't worry, at every entry point you get a pocket map that show the different sections, but if you like adventures trust your instinct and start to walk.

There is actually a system to navigate inside the bazaar and it's pretty useful for "novices": there is a main street that surrounds the entire market and from this, leave many lanes (Soi1, Soi2, Soi3, etc.) that lead to various sections (27 in all). Of course, same kind of goods can also be found in different sections (for example, shoes can be sold in in Soi2 as in 10 or 15) but at least this system doesn't let you loose your orientation. 

Do not expect the "bazaar prices", so that many restaurants have two menus: one for locals and one for tourists. What I recommend you is to bargain the prices as much as possible and do not trust the authenticity of the goods, especially if you are buying antiquities. For the rest... get jiggy with it!

In Chatuchak Market you will find just about anything and this small list helps you to get an idea of its immensity:

• Clothing & Accessories (sections 2-6, 10-26)
• Handicrafts (sections 8-11)
• Ceramics (sections 11, 13, 15, 17, 19, 25)
• Furniture and Home Decoration (sections 1,3,4,7,8)
• Food and Beverage (sections 2, 3, 4, 23, 24, 26, 27)
• Plants and Gardening tools (sections 3, 4)
• Art and Gallery (section 7)
• Pets and Pet Accessories (sections 8, 9, 11, 13)
• Books (sections 1, 27)
• Antiques and Collectibles (sections 1, 26)
• Miscellaneous and Used Clothing (sections 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 22, 25, 26)

Getting to the market is very easy and we all should thank the excellence of the public transport in Bangkok. With the sky train get off in Mo Chit Station, take exit No.1 and follow the crowd till a small entrance that will take you straight into it. With the subway get off at Chatuchak Park and again follow the crowd.

The market is open during week-end from 9am to 6pm and friday night from 6pm to 12pm.

Before going there, don't forget to carry an empty bag and to refill your wallet!

Images: quinet, jeffleigh, rwp-roger

all the rest belong to ©inindiaperamore.blogspot.com

PASTA ALLE MELANZANE -WITH AUBERGINES

This is a very easy recipe for pasta with aubergines and it started like this...

I opened my fridge and I found deep sadness. Standing there, leaning my arm on the fridge door I asked myself: "what I can cook with cheese and aubergines?". The inspiration came in no time. When you dont have any ingredient in the fridge and if you have some italian background, you surely want to cook pasta. I walked to the kitchen slowly, as an idea was forming in my mind. Tomatoes sauce, dry red chillies, onions, garlic and obviously pasta. Pasta alle melanzane!

Time: 30-40 minutes
Ingredients:

• Pasta corta (short pasta like penne, farfalle, fusilli etc.)
• Aubergines
• Onions
• Garlic
• Red Chilly (not necessarily)
• Olive Oil (Extra-Virgin always...)
• Butter (optional)
• Salt
• Pepper

Preparation:

• Cut the aubergines into small squares and boil them in salted water till they become soft and brownish in color. I decided to boil them because I wanted to cook them fast. You can always cover them with some salt for about 30 minutes, let them loose their water, rinse and dry them. Very long for my standards.

• In a large vessel boil the water to cook the pasta. Cut onions, garlic, chillies and fry them in a pan with olive oil. When the onions turn "blond" add the aubergines. Add some salt and pepper and cook it in medium flame for about 10 minutes.

• Add the tomatoes sauce and a cup of water. Cover partially with a lid and cook it gently for 20 minutes. Stir often. When the water is almost evaporated remove the lid and let it cook for 5 minutes more. Add salt and pepper to taste. 

• If the water for the pasta boils, ADD 1tbls OF SALT. This is a must. IT'S UNTHINKABLE TO BOIL PASTA IN UNSALTED WATER. Add the pasta and stir it.

• Drain the cooked pasta and add some butter. Again, I most of the time think butter as optional and I dont use it in my daily cooking. But this time I had to make a very yummy pasta (some husband-wife issues about forgiveness and a good meal is an efficient weapon for a wife). Adding some butter to the pasta makes a big-tasty-difference, especially if you are cooking with tomatoes.

• Add the pasta into the aubergines sauce, low the flame to a minimum, stir it, stir it and stir it again very gently. Switch the flame of, add the cheese and stir it again. 

Crush pepper, some more cheese and serve it.
If you have any question or suggestion you know how to find me.

All the material belongs to ©inindiaperamore.blogspot.com

GOAN PRAWN CURRY WITH COCONUT AND PRAWN RAVA FRY

Today must be my lucky day. Why? Because I went to the fish market and I've got 20 pieces of this fresh, big juicy tiger prawn for 200 Rs only (about 3€)! That's why I love Goa, beautiful, green and cheap!

I decided to pay a tribute to this amazing state in India and cook a Goan dish: Prawn Curry with Coconut and Prawn Rava Fry. I did it under the straight directions of my landlady, a pure Goan blood!

Every time I eat Goan food I always think it such an elaborate and complicate dish. 

Believe me. It is not!

The list of ingredients can surly scare you, but for an Indian these are the basic ingredients to cook any curry. I learn it. I learn how to do the magic of spices, I learn to not exaggerate with turmeric and to not be afraid of chilly powder. To learn how to cook Indian Food has been a significant goal and see my husband serve himself for the third time it's priceless! I never try to cook for guests. I should be more confident and do it! Maybe one day, with my friend Prachi and her Deliciously Directionless!

Time: 40-45 minutes
Ingredients:

• Prawns
• Rice
• 1 Onion
• 1 Tomato
• 2 Green Chillies
• Ginger Garlic Paste
• Fish Tamarind
• Turmeric
• Garam Masala
• Chilly Powder
• Coriander Powder
• Cumin Seeds
• 200ml Coconut Milk or Half Coconut Shell Grated
• Rava (semolina)
• Salt

Preparation:

• First you have to clean the prawns: you have to eliminate the legs, the antennule and the dorsal rostreal spine. Eliminate the intestines like usual. Do not take of the head.

• Prawn Rava Fry Marination: marinate prawn with salt, a pinch of turmeric and 1/2 tsp of garam masala. Soak the fish tamarind in an half cup of water, squeeze it and add the water. I use Goan fish tamarind, wich becomes dark brown in color and like a dense paste. Put aside the marinated prawn and prepare the curry.

Goan Fish tamarind

• Goan Prawn Curry with Coconut: cut finely the onion and the tomato. Add oil in a vessel and fry the onion. When it ready add the tomato and keep frying on high flame. 

• Now, you have two options:

1. If you have fresh grated coconut put it in a mixer, add a pinch of turmeric, a pinch of cumin seeds, 2tsp of coriander powder, 2tsp of chilly powder, 1tsp of ginger garlic paste add water and grind them. Add it into the vessel and bring it to boil.
2. If you have coconut milk packed (like me), pure it into the vessel add one cup of water and bring it to boil. Then, add the spices: a pinch of turmeric, a pinch of cumin seeds, 2tsp of coriander powder, 2tsp of chilly powder, 1tsp of ginger garlic paste.

• When it's boiling, add the prawn, 1tsp of salt, the water of the soaked fish tamarin and 2 green chillies.

• Let it cook for 10-15 minutes. When ready, put it in a serving plate and cover it to keep it warm.

• Prawn Rava Fry: lay the prawn into the rava and cover them with it. Fry them in oil.

           

I serve it with rice and mago pickle.

If you have any question or suggestion you know how to find me.

all the material belongs to ©inindiaperamore.blogspot.com