Frosted Green Beans with Sesame

Harsh bought me 'The Silver Spoon', which they say is the bible of authentic Italian cooking, for my birthday. The book has been very successfully sold in Italy and most Italian households have it on their bookshelves. A lot of Italian brides receive this book as a wedding gift.
I was very excited as i flipped through the 2000 plus recipes in the book as this meant months and months of experimenting in the kitchen. There are really simple recipes and some quite complicated ones as well, but they're all explained very simply. The only flip side is that there aren't too many pictures in the book and sometimes I find it hard to imagine what a dish would really look like. In fact, often it's the photograph that makes a dish tempting enough for me to try it out and lack of pictures can be a little intimidating.

This week I had 200 gms of green beans that I'd plucked off the bush beans I'd grown in our balcony and I thought it would be a great idea to try something Italian with them. More often that not, Italian cuisine is limited to pizza, pasta and risotto, and I thought I'd use this opportunity to bring you a recipe that falls into none of these categories.

Read on for the recipe to make Fagiolini Glassati Al Sesamo or Frosted Green Beans with Sesame.

Ingredients:


Green Beans (or French Beans) - 200 gms
Finely sliced Spring Onion - 1
Lemon juice - 1 tsp
Grated rind of a lemon - 1/4 tsp
Sesame seeds - 1 tsp
A blob of butter
Olive oil - for drizzling
Salt - to taste
Pepper - to taste

Method:


Cook the beans in salted boiling water for ten minutes, then drain and set aside.
Melt a blob of butter in a pan and saute the spring onions over low heat until they're softened. Stir in the lemon juice, the rind, salt and pepper and stir to mix well.
Now, add the green beans, mix well and continue to cook for another 5-10 minutes. In a separate pan roast the sesame seeds for a couple of minutes until they're fragrant.
Transfer the beans to a serving dish, sprinkle with sesame seeds and drizzle with olive oil. Mix well and serve hot. 

Murg Methi

I harvested another crop of methi this weekend and put it to good use. Balcony farming is so addictive and fulfilling!!

Here is the recipe for Murg Methi:

Ingredients:


Boneless chicken cut into pieces - 500 gms
Chopped Methi - one cup
Finely sliced Onion - 1 (large)
Finely chopped tomato - 1 (large)
Ginger-Garlic paste - 1 tbsp
Finely chopped Green chillies - 2
Curds - 1/4 cup
Kashmiri chilli powder - 1 tsp
Turmeric Powder - 1 tsp
Jeera Powder - 1/2 tsp
Dhana powder - 1/2 tsp
Garam masala - 1 tsp
Sugar - 1 tsp
Oil- 2 tbsps
Salt - taste

Method:


Heat oil in a non-stick pan. Saute the onions until brown. Add the methi leaves and continue cooking for 5-8 minutes. Now, add the chopped tomato, green chillies, ginger and garlic and cook until the oil begins to leave the side. Add the chicken, chilli,  turmeric, jeera, dhana and garam masala and cook until the chicken is almost completely cooked. Lastly, add the curd and a tea-spoon of sugar and cook until the chicken is tender and ready to be served. 

Methi Batata Bhaaji

You almost never get Methi in Eindhoven barring the frozens packets that're available sometimes at the Indian stores. We both really like Methi and so I decided to try growing some at home. Just a little over a month ago I planted some methi seeds in a little pot to see if they'd grow. It's still quite cold here so I had to place the pot indoors on the window sill. In a month's time my methi was ready to harvest.

Methi is very easy to grow and usually germinates within a week. It is fast growing and needs little maintenance. You need to water the plants regularly and place the pot in a sunny position. In a months time you have fresh methi leaves ready to be cooked.

Last night I harvested my methi crop and made some Methi Batata Bhaaji. Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:


Methi - One bunch
Potatoes - 4
Onions - 2
Garlic paste - 1 tsp
Red chili powder - 1/2 tsp
Turmeric - 1/2 tsp
Grated Jaggery - 2 tbsps
Salt - to taste
Oil

Method:


Wash and finely chop the methi leaves. Peel and cut the potatoes into pieces. Finely chop the onions. Saute the onions in a little oil until browned. Add the garlic paste and fry for another 2 minutes. Now, add the potatoes, the methi leaves, red chilli powder, turmeric, grated jaggery and salt ( the methi leaves shrink in size once they're cooked so you need to be careful with the salt). Cover the pan and cook until the potatoes and methi leaves are well cooked. You need to stir the bhaaji from time to time to ensure that it doesn't stick to the bottom or burn.

Note : Since I was growing Methi for the first time in Eindhoven( I've done it a few times in Mumbai) I hadn't planted enough to make a lot of bhaaji. You will notice in the picture that there are more potatoes in proportion to the methi.