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BEETROOT CARPACCIO SALAD



    Beetroot carpaccio is the vegetarian version of the classical Italian recipe of carpaccio which is prepared with thin slices of raw beef dressed with a vinaigrette using olive oil, lemon, capers, and even mustard is added for bit of a kick.


    This beetroot carpaccio salad is an impressive yet effortless appetizer salad which is so fresh, healthy and delicious. It’s one of those recipes that barely requires any cooking but still looks like a million bucks on the table.


    Beetroots are packed with essential nutrients and are a great source of fibre, folic acid, vitamin B6, iron, potassium, magnesium and many more.


    Recently I was detected with low iron deficiency and I was kind of worried. Started googling, reading and searching about the best natural sources of food to enhance the levels of the deficiency and found that beetroot is an amazing vegetable which contains nitrates and pigments that helps in increasing the blood flow.

    During this lockdown I ordered my bulk quantity of the veggies from the vendors and I had a large bag full of beautiful beetroots and I still had some organic arugula leaves growing in my garden. I paired it with orange vinaigrette which adds the beautiful sweet citrusy note to this refreshing summery salad. I served it with some grilled sumac and za’atar chicken and hassle back potatoes and everyone in the family was thrilled and thoroughly enjoyed the feast.



    SERVES: 4-5

    PREP TIME: 10 minutes

    BAKE TIME: 1 hour

    PASSIVE TIME: 1 hour

    ASSEMBLE TIME: 10 minutes



    INGREDIENTS


    • 3 medium beetroot

    • 4 cups/1 bunch Arugula leaves, washed and spin dried

    • 40g feta cheese

    • 40g hazelnuts, toasted & roughly chopped


    For Orange Vinaigrette:

    • 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

    • 3 tsp lime juice

    • 1 tsp grated ginger

    • 1/2 small navel orange, zested and juiced (2tbsp of juice)

    • 1 tbsp honey or maple syrup

    • 1/3 tsp salt or to taste

    • Dash of freshly cracked black pepper


    METHOD


    1. Preheat the oven to 200°C.

    2. Wash the beetroots and wrap them individually in a piece of foil.

    3. Place them on a baking tray and bake them for an hour.

    4. Cool completely and gently peel off the skin.

    5. Slice them thinly with the help of a mandoline or a sharp knife.

    6. Arrange the slices on a platter, slightly overlapping each other.

    7. Mix all the ingredients of the orange vinaigrette to prepare the dressing.

    8. Sprinkle half of the vinaigrette dressing on the arranged beetroot slices. Place arugula leaves in the center, sprinkle feta cheese and toasted hazelnuts, drizzle rest of the dressing on top of arugula leaves and serve immediately.


    COOK'S NOTES:


    • Beetroots can be baked and kept wrapped in the refrigerator for 2 days. Cool them completely before placing in the refrigerator.

    • Dress the beetroots only at the last minute before serving else the beetroot will sweat and the arugula salad leaves will wilt and won’t stay fresh and crisp.

    • I added ginger in my vinaigrette but you can always skip it if you don’t like the flavour.

    • Prepare vinaigrette few hours ahead or a day before and refrigerate. This will intensify the flavours and make it more delicious.

    • I don’t prefer to boil the beetroot as all essential nutrients and deep colour of beetroot is lost. Always try and bake them wrapped in foil to ensure all the nutrients are still intact.


    DAHI KEBABS



      When you think of kebabs your mind is mostly associating it with meats and you would hardly think of their vegetarian cousins.


      Dahi kebabs are the most delicious vegetarian kebabs which are soft, creamy, and delicate in flavor that simply melt in your mouth. The prime ingredient of this kebab is yogurt...Yes, you heard it right it’s made with yogurt.

      Basically the yogurt is hung in muslin cloth to remove the whey, and the cream left is called hung yogurt, which is used for making these kebabs. Crumbled paneer and bread crumbs are added along with some condiments to enhance the flavors of this delicate kebab, shaped in discs and deep fried.


      I like serving these kebabs with tamarind chutney and the green chilli coriander chutney which was made with freshly plucked green chillies growing in my garden.


      It’s a typical North Indian starter perfect to serve in dinner parties as an appetizer. Plan ahead if you want to serve this dish, as it takes time to prepare the hung yogurt.


      And don’t forget to read the cook’s notes for some alternatives!


      YIELDS: 16-18 pieces

      PREP TIME: 30 minutes

      COOKING TIME: 15 minutes

      PASSIVE TIME: 8 hours or overnight



      INGREDIENTS


      • 350g hung yogurt (made from 1kg yogurt)

      • 6-8 slices white bread, fresh

      • 175g fresh paneer, finely grated

      • 2 tbsp coriander, finely chopped

      • 1.5” piece ginger, finely chopped

      • 3-4 green chillies, finely chopped

      • 1 tsp jeera (cumin) powder

      • Salt to taste

      • Oil for frying



      METHOD


      1. To make hung yogurt, in a deep bowl, place a sieve, spread muslin cloth on top and drop 1 kilo yogurt into it. Knot the muslin cloth loosely and keep it in the refrigerator overnight. Squeeze out any more excess whey and remove ready hung yogurt in a separate bowl.

      2. Remove crust from bread slices and save it for later. Blitz the slices in food processor and make fine bread crumbs.

      3. In a bowl of hung yogurt, add 1 cup (50g) bread crumbs, grated paneer, ginger, green chillies, coriander, cumin powder and salt, mix them well together. With the help of two spoons make 16 dollops.

      4. Blitz the reserved bread crusts in a blender and mix it with remaining breadcrumbs. Drop a dollop into crumbs, roll it gently with your fingers to coat well from all sides. Shape it into flat round discs (about 1.5cm thick). Repeat with the rest of the mix. Refrigerate the prepared discs for 30 minutes or until ready to be fried.

      5. Heat oil in a deep pan, drop 3 to 4 kebabs at a time and fry on medium high heat until its golden brown. Remove on absorbent paper and serve with tamarind and coriander chutney.



      COOK'S NOTES:


      • You can also prepare the hung yogurt in muslin cloth (cheese cloth) tied to the sink tap and letting the water drain in your sink.

      • I have added bread crumbs based on the consistency of the hung yogurt, but if you hung it too long and yogurt has become too dry, add less quantity of bread crumbs and paneer. On the contrary, if the yogurt is still bit soft, add more bread crumbs and paneer and adjust the seasoning.

      • Deep fry only at medium high temperature of oil, because on slow heat these will break.

      • Do not fry all kebabs at once as the temperature of oil will drop and your kebabs will break.

      • Kebabs can also be shallow fried or air fried.

      • Do not keep tossing the kebabs in oil as they are delicate and can easily break.

      • If you are in a hurry, you can also use labneh instead of hung yogurt to prepare the kebabs. Labneh is a typical middle eastern condiment which is like a cream cheese made with hung yogurt cream. It is used to eat with lavash, khubz or pita breads or as a spread on any bread with olive oil, za’taar etc.


      APRICOT AND NECTARINE PIE


        Hey everyone! It’s summer in Oman, but honestly, when is it not! You get to see lot of stone fruits in supermarkets, so I picked up these luscious golden apricots and juicy nectarines, and made this quick rustic pie for my friend’s farewell lunch. It’s super simple, easy, quick and very delicious.


        Serve it with a generous scoop of ice cream and you will love the perfect marriage of those piquant tangy sweet fruits and creamy sweetness of vanilla ice cream! I was almost gonna put the scoops of ice-cream on top to take a shot but my pie was still quite warm to hold the shape of scoops intact. I just couldn’t wait any longer for it to cool down completely to take that perfect shot of pie topped with ice-cream as the sun was going down rapidly and was almost getting dusky and I didn’t want to lose that perfect lighting from the sun for my photo shoot. So here’s my virtual treat for you guys.




        SERVES: 8-10

        PREP TIME: 30 minutes

        BAKING TIME: 40 minutes

        TOTAL TIME: 1 hours



        INGREDIENTS


        For Pastry:

        • 1 1/4 cup plain flour

        • 1/2 cup/ 115g cold unsalted butter, diced

        • 1/2 tsp salt

        • 1 tbsp caster sugar

        For Filling:

        • 4-5 apricots

        • 2-3 nectarines

        • 4 tbsp caster sugar

        • 3-4 tbsp cold unsalted butter, diced

        • 1 egg



        METHOD

        1. To make pastry, in an electric mixer bowl, add flour, salt, sugar and butter, blend with a paddle attachment until the mixture resembles wet sand; add cold water, starting with 3 tbsp, pulse for few seconds until the dough combines together and forms a ball along the side of blender bowl, if it’s still not combined together add additional tablespoon of water.

        2. Now, take pastry dough out on a floured surface and gently roll it into a ball, take care not to over work the dough. Tightly close it in plastic wrap, refrigerate for 30 minutes.

        3. Preheat oven to 180°C, line the large baking tray with parchment paper.

        4. Remove pastry dough from fridge, unwrap and roll it down on a floured surface into 12” circle, place rolled dough on a prepared tray, slightly make a mark by very gently pressing a 9” pastry pan into the center of the dough to make the indentation for you to know how far you need to spread the fruit slices.

        5. Wash and dry the apricots and nectarines, cut them into 1cm thick slices, arrange the slices by slightly overlapping each other and cover the whole marked surface of pastry, leaving the edges blank.

        6. Sprinkle sugar over apricot and nectarine slices and place small knobs of butter all over. Lift the blank pastry on top of the sliced fruit, and fold the pastry every 3-4 inches as you go around to secure the filling inside.

        7. Lightly beat the egg and brush the bare edges of the pastry and bake it in the oven for 35-40 minutes until edges turn golden brown. Let it rest to cool before transferring to the serving platter. Serve it with vanilla ice-cream.


        COOK'S NOTES:

        • To make it vegan, omit regular butter and the egg wash in pastry and use non-dairy butter and milk instead.



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