Friday, April 9, 2010

Sushi Night!

So this post has been long overdue. Infact many have been. But I have been traveling a whole lot and was unable to get myself to complete these. So now I am home and completely jet lagged and unable to sleep so I thought I would catch up on some writing.
Sushi night at Janu and Christian's place in Salt Lake City. I heard these were quite famous and involved copious amounts of Sushi and wine. Needless to say I was very excited. Christian, Janu and I were joined by their friends Kian, Krista and Cyrus. Kian is the sushi expert and it was definitely a blast to watch him roll the sushi. All in all it is not very hard to roll sushi at home, however many ingredients are needed to make Sushi night work.

Im not sure if I captured the recipe precisely as this was my first time rolling sushi at home. But Sushi rolling, followed by several rounds of Saboteur (an excellent strategy card game), followed by a very special Persian Tea ceremony with seemingly endless glasses of wine did make for an excellent night.

Im going to attempt to list all the ingredients:
1. Sushi grade rice
2. Rice vinegar
3. Salt
4. Sugar
5 Wasabi- hot
6. Siriacha
7. Eel Sauce
8. Pickled ginger
9. Japanese mayonaisse
10. Assorted vegetables such as sprouts, cucumber, peppers, mango, spring onions, carrots, avacado
11. Dried seaweed sheets
12. Seseame seeds
13. Fresh Sushi grade fish- salmon, tuna, eel. (Kian bought fresh sushi fish from the aquarium)
14. Soya Sauce

Equipment:
15. Bamboo Sushi Mat
16. Paddle for rice
17. Rice cooker
18. A clean cutting board

The prep:
Above is the slice of fresh sushi grade tuna and spicy tuna- made with siriacha sauce and mayonnaise mixed with the raw tuna. Delicious!

To make the Sushi rice:
This is the part I missed on but found a nice recipe online to follow:
http://www.videojug.com/film/how-to-make-sushi-rice
Keep in mind- Sushi fish should be fresh and sushi rice should be sticky and not the other way around. Kian has prepped the rice for us and he is about to roll the sushi rolls. Can't wait!

To roll a Sushi Roll:
1. Lay the bamboo mat flat on a cutting board. Place a sheet of seaweed on the bamboo mat. Place a generous scoop of sushi prepped rice on the seaweed.
 
2. Press the rice down on 2/3 of the sea weed and spread the rice as evenly possible on that area.

3. Now place the ingredients in single rows evenly on half the rice. Including the slivers of fresh fish.

4. Start by rolling with the bamboo mat and press into a circular tubular form. Make sure that it is a tight fold and all the ingredients are held together.

5. As the roll is about to be complete use apply some water along the edge of the seaweed and close the roll completely.

6. Cut into 1.5" slices and serve on a platter. Sprinkle sesame seeds, squeeze some eel sauce and serve with soya sauce, wasabi and ginger.

Some more expert sushi rolling. I think this is called the outside roll. I was very impressed with Kian's skill to roll these professional rolls. It involved plastic wrap.

Followed by some crazy Persian wedding dance! Vigorously performed by Cyrus and Kian.

Watch the video right here.

For other Sushi recipes check out Foodista:

Tuna Sushi Roll on FoodistaTuna Sushi Roll

Saturday, March 13, 2010

The Persian Tea Ceremony




So... I have to post this because this is the fun that ensued after dinner tonight. We rolled some amazing Sushi rolls for dinner courtesy Janu and her friend Kian  (post to follow soon) and played cards. Kian and Cyrus provided endless entertainment by breaking into these crazy dance moves. Just too funny!!!
Click on this link below to see this hilarious video I captured tonight. All in good fun.

Persian Tea Ceremony

Monday, March 1, 2010

For the Love of Karela (Bitter Gourd? Melon)

I love karela. And I think the love of Karela runs in the family. My sis loves karela, my mum and dad love karela, my extended family love karela. I think you get my point. You can only have a 'love-hate' relationship with karela. Believe me its not a vegetable that you are ambivalent towards. It has a really bitter taste and either you can deal with it or not. Karela, like many bitter vegetables is good for health. In particular, karela helps with indigestion and it has a lectin of some sort that is like insulin and regular consumption of karela can help curb the onset of diabetes. So there it is good for you. And fresh karelas smell green.

Karela is mostly eaten in Asia and seems like the most common way of preparing it is by deep frying it. Of course anything deep fried should taste good right! Not these suckers- their seeds are very very bitter. Add some salt, squeeze some lime- now that sounds better. However in my household we stuff our Karela with a delicious mix of spices and saute them. These stuffed karelas are insanely delicious.

Here is a confession: I haven't ever really cooked a Karela but have consumed it almost on a daily basis when I lived at home. Believe me my mum makes an amazing Karela.
I had the pleasure of documenting my aunt, Darshana in Alfred, NY make her Karela. Its different from my mom's Karela recipe but just as yummy. OMG!

Ingredients:

1/2 dozen Karelas (Bitter Melons) peeled
Fennel seeds crushed or powdered
Coriander Powder
Cumin
Salt
Red Chili powder
Turmeric
Onions cut in 8's and separated
Oil to cook

1. Peel the karelas and slit them in the center length wise. Be careful not to cut them in half.

2. In a bowl mix all the dry spices. Add the red chili powder and salt according to taste.

3. Take generous helpings of the spice mix and stuff the karelas with the masala. Place the karelas in a plate till they are ready to cook

4. Heat oil in a pan and place the karela in the hot oil in a single layer.

5. Allow the karela to cook before you stir or else all the spices will fall in the oil and eventually burn. The total cooking time is approximately an hour, however toss the karela gently every 10 minutes. Cook until their green skin turn brown and they look well sauteed.

6. Take the onions cut them in eights (half them, quarter them and then further eight them). Separate the leaves of the onions so that they are all in a single layer. Toss any of the remaining spices in the bowl on the onions so that they are basically spiced.

7. Add the onions to the pan of karelas and stire gently.

8. Cover and let the onions saute with the karela.

So here we go delicious Karela. Oh so yummy with roti and some plain yogurt on the side.

I have always been curious about what the Karela looks like on the tree. I was pleasantly surprised to see that the rough, bulbous, unpleasant texture of the skin actually blooms into this beautiful flower.

I saw this in an Asian grocery store in Chicago and for all the love of Karela I dont think I could drink this. Karela Pop - Really??

For more recipes on bitter gourd check out Foodista
Stuffed Karelas on FoodistaStuffed Karelas

Bitter Gourd on FoodistaBitter Gourd