Classic French Onion Soup Recipe

French soupe à l'oignon

French Onion Soup

So I was watching the wonderful movie Julie and Julia when I had a sudden craving to try one of Julia Child's French recipes. Then I remembered that amazing French Onion soup I had on my last visit to Paris and how I wish I could re-create that magic. So I looked up Julia's recipes and found this classic French Onion Soup recipe which I simplified and it turned out absolutely decadent! Noting spells comfort food better than this French Onion Soup recipe! Must try it to believe it! Read on!

Slice up 3 white onions. Heat a tablespoon each of oil and butter together in a heavy bottomed pan. Add some garlic paste or finely chopped garlic, a bay leaf and 2 sprigs of fresh thyme.. Let the onions cook till they're tender with the lid on for about 15 minutes on low heat. Next up, caramelize the onions on medium high heat by adding a teaspoon of sugar. Once onions are browned and caramelized, add half a cup of red wine. Once the wine starts bubbling, add a tablespoon of flour and stir. Continue cooking till the mixture thickens. Add chicken or beef or vegetable stock and bring the soup to boil. Finally add salt and pepper to taste.

Brush some butter/ oil on the surface of a couple of one inch thick bread slices. You can use a baguette if you wish to. Toast the slices in an oven to make them turn light brown and crunchy. 

Pour your soup into two oven proof bowls and fill only two thirds of each bowl with soup. Then, place your slices on each bowl of soup by dunking them half way so that the slices of bread start soaking the soup but aren't entirely covered in soup. Grate some Gruyere cheese or Mozarella and Cheddar cheese over your soup bowls to completely cover the soup and bread slices with cheese. If the bowl is not overflowing with cheese, it's not onion soup! 

While still bubbling in the oven!

Add very little grated raw onion on the cheese. Drizzle some melted butter or oil over the cheese and sprinkle very little paprika seasoning/ chilli powder over the cheese. Pop the bowls into the oven till that cheese bubbles away to glory and turns wonderfully brown and beautifully aromatic! This should take not more than 10 minutes on 175 degrees Celsius. 

If it's not overflowing, its not French Onion Soup!

So go ahead, give this a try and you will thank me for the rest of your lives! I just had a bbig bowl of this soup and I still can't stop drooling at the sight of these pictures. So I'm gonna go now and clean up my kitchen! You go try this and let me know how you liked it in the comments section below!

Much love,
SaloFalo
xoxo

Baked Butterfly Shrimp with Herb & Cheese Stuffing

Baked Butterfly Shrimp 

with Herb & Cheese Stuffing

Hello Lovelies, today I'm sharing with you something that I came up with after a wonderful restaurant experience that I combined with the ideas in my head! Guess what's better than Shrimp stuffed with cheese? Shrimp marinated in a lime, garlic & butter vinaigrette and topped with your favourite cheeses! So, let me tell you how to make this simple and truly decadent comfort food! 

Firstly, 'behead', wash and de-vein your shrimp by making and incision along the back of the shrimp right up to the tail. Make sure not to cut right through so as to keep the shrimp with its skin intact as 1 piece. De-vein the shrimp and wash it under cold running water and then pat dry each shrimp.

Make a lime and garlic vinaigrette by mixing the juice of half a lime, 2 tablespoons of melted butter, 2 tablespoons of garlic paste, salt & pepper to taste, some chopped tarragon & cilantro. I used this quantity of vinaigrette and stuffing for 12 medium-sized shrimps. Stuff each shrimp with the vinaigrette filling and top with grated mozzarella and cheddar cheeses. Bake in a pre-heated oven on 180 C for 20 minutes or until cheese bubbles and browns up. 

Serve with a spicy salsa dip/ tabasco sauce. Feel free to experiment with your choice of herbs. Some do it with spring onions / green onions and some may choose to use fresh Italian herbs. Do whatever floats your boat and let me know what worked best for you!! This recipe is a must try for all cheese lovers!

Watch this space for more such yummilicious recipes and comment below to tell me what you'd like for me to cover for you next!

Lots of love,

SaloFalo

xx

Rajasthani Laal Maas

Spicy Lamb Curry Recipe

Hi my lovely readers, today I have for you the very traditional and authentic Rajasthani Laal Maas Recipe! Laal Maas literally translates to red meat! So I'm guessing, any Indian food lover would guess that the two main ingredients for this dish are lamb and red chillies! Well, that's absolutely right! This dish gets its fiery red flavour and colour from the dried red chillies and its richness from the ghee and yogurt. So without further delay, lets get started!

1.   Soak 8-10 whole red Kashmiri chillis in hot water and grind to a paste.

2.   Whisk together the red chilli paste, 1 tablespoon garam masala powder, 2 tablespoons garlic paste, half a cup of yogurt & salt and marinate the lamb overnight in the refrigerator.

3.   Heat ghee in a pot and add 2 bay leaves, 1 cinnamon stick, 2 whole black cardamom, 4 green cardamoms, 5 peppercorns, 5 cloves, a teaspoon fennel seeds and mace.

4.   Add 2 large chopped onions and sauté till golden brown. Add 2 tablespoons ginger paste, 4-5 small cloves of garlic and stir for 4 to 5 minutes.

5.   Stir in some coriander, turmeric and red chilli powders. Add the lamb with the marinade, fry for a bit and then reduce flame.

6.   Add some water and bring to boil.

7.   Cook the meat until tender. Add the tomato puree (made of 2 tomatoes) and stir. Then add a couple more whole red chillies. Cook on low flame till the lamb pieces are coated with the masala and tender.

8.   Cooking in the pressure cooker might take 6-7 whistles on medium heat and 10-15 minutes on low heat.

9. Adjust salt and serve pipping hot with steamed rice or roti.

Do try this lovely recipe and do let me know how you liked it. Your feedback means a lot to me, so don't forget to comment in the comment's section below and follow me so that you keep getting updates of my new recipes! 

Wont waste your time! Go try it...NOW!

Love.

SaloFalo xx

Chicken Biryani Recipe (Special tips included)

Chicken Dum Biryani Recipe

Restaurant style!

Biryani is a slow cooked flavorful rice dish which is made by mixing it with curried meat or vegetables and owes its roots to the Indian Subcontinent. I've made Biryanis several times before, but on this occasion, my parents just couldn't stop praising it, so I thought I had to share it with you!

This particular recipe is called a Dum Biryani because the rice and meat are slow cooked under pressure so that the aromas and flavors are trapped in their own steam. It employs a longer procedure than the regular biryani, but after doing ample research, I came up with ways to make the recipe slightly simpler and more practical. How, you ask? Read on...

First up, powder a mixture of whole spices and add ginger  & garlic paste, chilli powder, coriander powder, cumin powder, shahi jeera, salt, ghee, juice of half a lime, chopped coriander, chopped mint leaves and half a cup yogurt to the mixture. Mix well to form a paste and marinate chicken pieces overnight or at least for 3-4 hours. Tip - Overnight marination works best! Also, pierce the chicken and use fresh chicken instead of frozen.

Next, slice up 2 medium sized onions, roughly sprinkle some corn flour over the onions and deep fry immediately. This will give you perfectly browned onions. Tip - Take the onions off the heat before it becomes too brown as the colour darkens a bit even after it is taken out of the hot oil. 

Roast a few cashew nuts and keep aside. The fried onions and cashew nuts are to be used along with a few sprigs of mint leaves for garnishing in the end.

Boil 3 cups of long grain Basmati rice so as to cook it half way through. Add salt, ghee, bay leaves and jeera to the water and drain the excess water once rice is cooked halfway. Add a few drops of kewra essence and rose water to the rice to bring out the true Biryani flavour in the rice. Tip - Soak the rice in water for 45 minutes before cooking so that grains lengthen and appear truly restaurant style.

Layer a thick bottomed pan (handi) with the chicken pieces and all of the marinade. Tip - You can also add half cooked potato wedges if you like potatoes in your biryani like my parents do! Sprinkle 1/3rd of the fried onions over the chicken and then layer with the half cooked rice. Top the rice with the rest of the fried onions, some food colour (optional), roasted cashew nuts and saffron soaked in hot milk. Tip - While placing the chicken in the bottom layer of the pan, make sure each piece touches the bottom of the pan to ensure equally cooked pieces and a flavorful roasted texture to the chicken. 

Cover the pan with a lid and weights so that the steam and flavors are trapped in the pan. Place a tawa on the fire and the pan over the tawa so that the chicken doesnt burn. Cook the biryani on high flame for the first 10 minutes and then reduce the flame to a medium for the next 20 minutes. ...and Voila! Authentic Chicken Biryani is ready! Whip up some cucumber raita and serve with lime wedges and onion! This Biryani is to die for! 

Go try this right now and experience the taste of the most authentic restaurant style biryani in the comfort of your home! You can thank me later ;)

Lot's of love,

Salo!

Punjabi Chhole Bhature Recipe

Chhole Bhature Recipe

Chickpeas/ Garbanzo beans gravy served with Indian bread

My earliest memory of the best ever Chhole Bhature I've had is of the one at Elco in Hill Road, Bandra (W). I didn't think I would be able to make Chhole Bhature so divine and flavorful until I tasted what I made today. And hence, I felt I had to share my recipe with you. It is a mixture of my mom'straditional Chhole recipe blended with Sanjeev Kapoor's Bhature recipe and my own modifications to make it quick and tasty. So, let's get started!

For the chhole you'll need - 

Chhole (Garbanzo beans/ Chickpeas soaked overnight) - 1& 1/2 cups

Tea leaves - 1 tbsp 

Large onions - 2

Ginger paste - 1 & 1/2 tbsp

Medium sized tomatoes - 2 

Chhole masala powder (I used Everest) - 3 tbsp

Kashmiri chilli powder - 2 tbsp

Amchur powder (Dried mango powder) - 2 tsp

Salt to taste

Chat masala to taste

Procedure - 

Boil the chhole with 4 cups on water, a tsp of salt and 1/3rd cup black tea in a pressure cooker. Cook for upto 6 whistles and then take it off the heat. Heat oil in a pan and add ginger paste. Then add finely chopped (or ground) onions and cook till the water content dries up. Add finely chopped (or pureed) tomatoes and cook until it all combines into a paste. Add chhole masala powder, Kashmiri red chilli powder and amchur powder and cook till the aromas fill your kitchen and the mixture loses all its rawness. Add the boiled chhole along with the water it was boiled in.

Last, but not the least, adjust salt and add chat masala to taste. Garnish with chopped coriander.

For the bhature you'll need - 

Refined flour (maida) - 2 & 1/2 cups

Yogurt/ curd - 1/2 cup

Baking powder - 1/2 tsp

Soda Bicarbonate - a pinch

Sugar - 2 tsp

Salt - 1 tsp

Oil - for deep frying

Procedure -

Mix all the dry ingredients and pass through a sieve. Add the yogurt, baking powder and soda bicarbonate. Add sugar and salt and a little water to knead into a dough. Divide the dough into 12 equal roundels and roll into oval shaped rotis. Heat sufficient oil in a kadai and deep fry each roti till they puff up and then place them on absorbent paper so that the excess oil is soaked out. Serve immediately with chhole.

Hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we did! Let me know in the comments section below, what you would like for me to cover next!

Bon Apetit!

x