Wedding Fervor

Wedding season is on and how... Ask parlor owners or farm-house p***s, florists or halwais, and they will each recount with delightful rapture just how happy this season is and how they are literally raking in the moolah...

And talking of weddings, I had the good fortune of attending the wedding of a dear old, AST (read Bhabha) who is now a certain Mrs. Goel with all beauty and grace *hoot hoot*. But weddings mean a lot of dressing up and strutting, even for the sahelis of the bride, with as little as 4 hours of sleep the previous night, and with all the backless blouses and endless dancing, one is bound to fall prey to the Great Indian Wedding Fever.

In this post I help you combat that fever with an energy pumped, delicious, yet simple dish: the Wedding Fervor. Recipe below:

Ingredients:

Moong dal (Green gram) or mixed sprout - 100 gms
Chicken (boneless) - 50 to 75 gms
Olive Oil - 1 tbsp (to rub onto the chicken)
Tomatoes - 1 medium sized, deseeded and diced
Onion - 1 medium sized, diced
Cucumber - 1/2, diced
Salt, Pepper and Red Chilli Powder - To taste
Lemon - 1

Method:

• Take the boneless chicken and make gashes on it with a sharp knife. Now rub olive oil, a little pepper, salt and juice of half a lemon on it and allow to marinate for a couple of hours before micro-grilling it for approximately ten minutes or till the chicken has turned opaque. 
• Cook the sprouts in a cup of water in a cooker, till you hear a single whistle. Take it off the gas and drain almost all of the liquid.
• Now mix the sprouts, shredded grilled chicken, diced tomatoes, onions and cucumber  in a bowl.
• Add the seasoning (as per taste) and the juice of half a lemon and toss.
• You could serve immediately if you like it warm or allow it to cool in the refrigerator for an hour before consuming it chilled, depending on the weather and your personal preference. I enjoy it either ways.

This simple dish is packed with protein and Vitamin C and is perfect to re-vitalize the exhausted you, allowing you to bounce back from wedding fever straight into wedding fervor. You can make variations of the same by looking up last month's Good Food magazine. 

Now for god's sake, don't flaff around, GO DIG IN....

I know that my name ain't Sarah, but I still love the Carbonara

So the world didn't quite end as expected (and even hoped by many!), and here we are, fat in the middle of the second month of Twenty13 -- yea, already! Middle? Not quite! Fat? Oh, completely... But then again, why wouldn't we be, given all the winter gorging like there would be no tomorrow, thanks to the Mayan indicators, but lo and behold, we are (read I am) FAT and ALIVE, and that my dearies, is reason enough to celebrate...

Another reason to celebrate is to mark the small somethings that happen to us while we are busy trying to live and make a living, small achievements that could possibly lead to big dreams and HOPE...

And finally, a celebration: to mark the brightness of today's sunshine after days of dreariness, and despite the nip, that smell in the air -- it's nothing short of a harbinger of Spring!!!

'Nuff justification for the cooking... Celebrations are mere pretexts, I cook because I can... And so, before I waste another waking minute of your beautiful life, let me jump straight to what was a-cooking in that kitchenette...

Penne all carrrbonaraaa (the carnivore in me grins endlessly!)... Recipe below:

Ingredients:

Penne pasta - 200 grams (Note: Although a typical carbonara uses spaghetti, I am a personal fan of the penne, but you could use the exact quantity of the spaghetti, or any other pasta that suits your fancy)

Eggs - 2
Extra Virgin Olive Oil - 1 tsp
Garlic - 2 cloves, finely chopped
Cream - 2 tbsp
Bacon - 100 grams, but if you are a pure meat-eater alla Anka, as much as you want :p
Parmesan Cheese - 1/2 cup grated, but you know with cheeses, more is less
Freshly Ground Black Pepper - To taste
Salt - To taste

Method:

Of the various recipes I read online, I only came across one note, and that is to prep the pasta and the sauce simultaneously so that the fresh, piping hot, al dente pasta can cook the raw eggs in the sauce. Oh, and this recipe is so darn simple, that were it not for the fat around my middle, or the rising temperature, I would indulge in this yummilicous dish day on day... 'Cause I know that my name ain't Sarah, but I still love the Carbonara :p

• Fill a large pot with water and add a dash of salt. Add the pasta to this pot once the water is boiling, and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or as per packet instructions, until al dente.
• At the same time, sauté your bacon, cut into thin strips on a non-stick skillet, and allow it to crisp up till the fat is rendered. Place on a paper towel, once crisp, in order to drain. 
• Now, on the same skillet, add your finely chopped garlic and allow it to cook in the bacon juices and fat for a minute or so, until soft.
• While the pasta still cooks, don your super-chef hat and combine the eggs, olive oil, garlic, cream and cheese in a bowl and whisk till everything is mixed. 
• Drain the pasta (reserving the starchy pasta water to thin out the sauce, if required) into a wok on medium flame and quickly add the sauce to this. 
• Whisk together, and add some reserved water to bring the sauce to a desired consistency.
• Add the bacon and freshly ground pepper to the wok and combine, while also enjoying the heady aroma of this divine concoction... *salivates*
• Now serve in a bowl and drizzle some more grated parmesan and black pepper on top
• VOILA, la mia cara, now you can enjoy your home-made carbonara... teehee!

Okay, okay, and no mocking the sad attempt at poetry in the title or the line above... Remember, I am a self-claimed poet too :p

Now what are you waiting for? Its still almost-dinner time in many parts of the world... GO DIG IN!!!

While I, I mentally prepare myself for 500 crunches tomorrow and overmorrow... *facepalm*

Angelic glow -- oh carbonara!