Hungry Poka

Canned tuna, boiled potatoes, finely chopped onion, green chillies, cilantro, jeera powder, gram masala powder, one egg, red chilli powder. Smash everything up in a bowl. Don't forget to add salt (I almost forgot).  Make medium sized balls, put them on a plate and smash them down into patties.  Fry in low oil and high heat. Watch very carefully or it'll burn. 

15 oz whole milk ricotta, 1 cup sugar, lemon essence, yellow food coloring.  Cook ricotta + sugar over medium/high heat until 80% of the water is evaporated and the consistency resembles a soft kalakand (mildly grainy but mostly smooth).  Let it cool till it's barely warm.  Separate 2 tblsp of the mix into a bowl add 1/4 tsp lemon essence and 2 drops of the food coloring and mix well. Make tiny balls out of the yellow mix.  Make larger egg-size balls out of the white mix, poke a hole in the middle and put in one yellow ball.  Close the white ball and roll with hands into egg shape.  Repeat till all the mix is finished.  Makes about 6-7 eggs.  Take a piece of dental floss and gently cut through the center to make each egg a half egg.  Plate and serve.  You could chill it but it's best eaten at room temperature or slightly warm.

Gur Roshogolla - 1 gal whole milk (do not use lowfat, nonfat etc.), 1/4 cup white vinegar (mix with half a cup of water).  Chhana - Bring milk to a very low/slow boil - when the milk just begins to boil, that is the stage you want.  Add the vinegar/water mixture and stir SLOWLY.  The chhana should start clumping in large clumps and the water should be greenish/bluish and quite clear.  If this doesn't happen and the water is still milky, add a couple more tablespoons of vinegar mixed with some more water.  Drain the chhana in a colander lined with a think, soft cloth (I use a bit of an old cotton sari).  Let it cool, and squeeze as much water as possible out of the chhana.  I usually put a weight on the channa and leave it overnight to drain. Kneading the chhana - this is the most critical part of any roshogolla.  The more effort you put into this step, the better the roshogolla.  I usually knead with my hands for at least 2-3 hours - it's ver...

2 cups Water, 2 organic, vine ripened tomatoes (this is important),  1.5tbsp tamarind paste, a squeeze of fresh lime juice, 2tbsp Rasam powder- use the 777 brand which is pretty good. Boil everything for at least 15 min on high. Add salt to taste and fresh chopped cilantro. Make a ton of rice and some raita. And applam or papad.

While cooking... Chicken: Cornish hen, defrosted and cut up asian style (8-9 pieces) Marinade : High quality soy sauce (something that has less salt and more soy, relatively thick - see below), 6-7 cloves of garlic + 1.5 in of ginger roughly chopped, 1/4 cup white vinegar, 6-7 fresh green chillies chopped up.  Put all of it in a ziploc bag, seal and massage so that it's mixed well.  Stick it in the fridge for a minimum of 10 hours. I did 1.5 days.  Flip once or twice to ensure all pieces get marinated uniformly. Other ingredients:   1 large onion (red) - cut in thick slivers, Optional: celery, carrot or any other vegetables Cook :  Heat up wok with oil (pref avocado for smoke point) on high.  Oil temp should be high.  Cook onions until translucent (couple of minutes).  Put all contents of ziploc bag in the wok and cook on high heat for at least 5 min till you see that the chicken is browning (look at the wing tips).  This can cause a lot of ...