On a Foodie high! It must be the Edamame!

Three posts in as many days!

What to do - there are just so many awesome ingredients coming my way!

Vikram dropped off fresh Edamame over the weekend and coincidentally I also found some at the Warden rd. Natures basket.

I loved Edamame (eh-dah-MAH-meh)when I tried them at Origami a while ago. The Japanese have long snacked on edamame, or green soybeans and the same have been quite popular amongst culinary circles since Japanese food became popular in India but it is another thing to find them at your local store! (well almost, it's just a mater of time before they will be). It seems Mumbaikars are tuning into the charms of this super bean...

The Japanese boil the whole pods in salted water and serve them with beer (Asahi) and one simply uses one's teeth to squeeze the beans out of the salted pods. Which is want I did with the fresh lot while I contemplated what to do with the frozen ones. Very addictive and over so soon. ...

But having more of the frozen ones, I did a Sesame Chicken Don with them. Don is the affectionate short name for Donburi which are Japanese one bowl meals of rice topped with a stew of some sort or other.

My husband and I are watching our diet and have found that plating food (or in this case bowling :P) really works. Once we are through our serving, the time it takes to go to the kitchen counter to serve ourselves again allows our tummies time to send the message to our brain advising how much more we want. Most times, we end up with just one more spoonful or veto the second serving completely.

The Soya Chicken for our meal today was a given, it was first a runaway success when I made it to stuff Vietnamese rice paper rolls last summer and has been popular at the Ghildiyal table ever since. It would provide the right slightly saucy, salty - spicy foil for the moist savoury rice.

The rice recipe is a concoction all my own, I wanted a delicate combination reminiscent of Japanese cuisine that would not overwhelm the herby green flavour of the Edamame and yet appeal to the Indian palate of my family. Also having to watch my carbohydrate intake due to gestational diabetes, I wanted to avoid white rice and decided to use red rice.

Which in retrospect was a brilliant choice because in addition to offering just the right nutty foil to the Edamame, it also cooked to a beautifully state of sticky but grainy and al dente and was very like Japanese sticky rice in texture.

For best results start cooking the Chicken when your rice is almost done so everything comes to the table freshly cooked. I followed up with fresh mangoes for dessert.

Don of Soya Chicken over red rice cooked with Edamame and toasted Sesame oil

Prep - 1/2 hour

Cooking 20 minutes if done simultaneously, 1/2 hour if done individually

Yeild - about 5 servings

For the rice

300 g red rice ( this time I used Indrani red rice from concious foods)

8 cups stock

1/2 cup toasted sesame seeds (black/white or a combination - whatever you prefer)

2 cups frozen blanched shelled edamame (green soybeans), thawed

1/2 tsp white pepper

Salt to taste

1/3 cup toasted Sesame oil

Wash rice well and place in a large, deep pan with stock, pepper and salt to taste. Bring to a boil and simmer untill rice is starting to swell (about 10-12 mins). Add edamame, stir well and allow to keep cooking. At this point start cooking your chicken. When stock is almost gone, stir in sesame seed and oil. Stir well, cover and leave to steam untill ready to eat.

For the chicken

250 g Chicken breast pieces cut to bite size

250 g Onion sliced fine lengthwise

1/2 cup Soya sauce (the regular one we get)

Salt to taste (be careful with salt as ther is already Soya sauce in this recipe)

1/2 cup rice wine vinegar (or 2 tbsp of any natural vinegar)

2 tbsp Lee Kum Kee Chui Chow Chilli Oil (optional)

Combine everything and set aside for 1/2 an hour.
Transfer to a saucepan and place on the flame. Cook untill he chicken is done - it should be moist and succulent and the marinade should reduce to a thick sauce

To serve,

Place rice in individual bowl and top with Chicken. I usually serve a light brothy chicken soup on the side to wash things down with and add a few unspiced Sago (Sabudana pappads) on the side for crunch.

A spot of summer sweetness - Single Flora Honeys from India

The Honeys from The Hive

I have been on a strict diet excercise regime (finally) to combat gestational diabetes since the 1st of May but here is a confession, I allow myself two sugar spoons of honey every so often. Shobha, my long suffering housekeeper has gotten used to my delibrating over one corner of my pantry cupboard (small endurance in comparison to some of my other culinary idiosyncracies! I am sure!) as I decide what I want to have each morning; Wild Forest, Sweet Clover, Orange Blossom, Mahua, Til & Bajra, Cashew, Mustard, Honey Dew or Litchi.

But this morning Shobha knew what I would have. Which is probably why she had a knowing glint in her eye when she laid breakfast before me. Two slices of toast with a smidgen of butter and a bottle of honey. Specifically Mango Honey, because this morning I received my bottle of Vijaya's latest single flora honey - Mango flavour.

But she hasn't noticed that I have what has come to be a ritual of sorts, with the uncapping of every new flavour, I taste it pure.

Like a wine taster (what do you expect from a food lover) I look at the colour, it's a beautiful saffron hued clear golden colour (I think mango yellow but dismiss it because of the mental association).

Then I smell it (I need to smell everything I eat first) .

With the Mango honey the aroma is very subtle, the first sniff gives you only honey, but place a few spoonfuls in a bowl, stir a bit and sniff and the aroma rises to you, bringing to mind memories of walking into the kitchen on a summer afternoon to be assailed by the aroma of ripening mangoes.

Now I put a spoonful in my mouth - again at first it is only honey but wait, swirl a little, let your saliva break things down and let your sense of smell come into play, and there it is first the flavour notes of mango hit you. Swirl again and swallow an you are left with a taste of mango on your tongue, so pure that it is hard to believe you have not eaten a luscious piece of the fruit itself.

Stunning!

Now that I have served to completely confound even myself, let me tell he whole story and atone to the food Gods for my delay in blogging about this. I have been meaning to, honest I have, but life has been moving at full speed off late and time is dear between the kids, home, my first love - cooking (i know, I know that should be husband but you know what I mean), husband, my new job as Editor, Gastronomy with Indiwo.com and my book, 'My Mumbai Cookbook' in full swing.

To tell the story A few months ago Vikram (who has kindly been feeding my curiosity about all things food in Mumbai ever since I have been confined - first because I was pregnant and then because I couldn't leave my baby daughter) told me about Under the Mango Tree, a company he found at the Uppercrust show this year. He also wrote about the company and the Lady behind it, Vijaya Pastala in his column later.

So I got in touch with Vijaya and many disjointed conversations via chatboxes, smses and the phone, while walking (me) delivering honey (her), dropping son to school (both of us) and generally living two busy lives we have found we share many interests, namely; kids, cooking, travel and food.

I also found Vijaya's 'Hive' and her delicious range of single flora honey.

The Til and Bajra is unique - like the essence of the grains have been bottled but my favourite is the Cashew. Well untill the Mango came along anyway.

You could cook with honey but not with these. These you must savour by themselves. At most you could stir them into cold milk or spread over bread or toast. They are also great on a cheese platter - Camembert or any sharp Blue come to mind with the Mango... She's gettin Saunff next.

Vijaya of the Honeys

Under the Mango tree and the UTMT blog on it's honey initiative The Hive where owner Vijaya Pastala blogs about her honey and more, Vikram Doctor's column on Honey in ET

To get your hands on honey from the Hive, call 9833154478 for free home delivery in Mumbai and VPP courier service acros the country, or pick it up from bake Haven, Shop No 2, Rajat Apartments, Mount Pleasant Road, Mumbai 26. Call 022-66643798 for free home delivery and Navdanya, The Organic Shop, Shop No 10, Mayfair Housing Society, Andheri (W). Mumbai 53. Call 9920418027 for free home delivery