Sid Khullar - Chef at Large

Here’s a contribution from my mother:
There’s nothing more invigorating than a hearty breakfast. There was a time when breakfasts in my mother’s home were huge and wholesome. Fried, poached or boiled eggs, thick slices of toast, butter, marmalade, chutney, rashers of bacon, fried tomatoes and thick slices of roast potatoes and that wasn’t all! There [...]

These are fresh button buttons, de-stalked and lightly sauteed in sesame oil - then stuffed with a spicy mixture of mushrooms, chicken and peanuts.
First de-stalk the mushrooms and then quickly stir fry them in some hot sesame oil - remember to use very little oil. Set aside.
Now for the filling. Finely puree some wood ear [...]

I’ve been thinking about compiling a list of recipes for quite a while and see if they’re good enough to be published. Have any of us seen the list of requirements most publishers require from cook book authors? Huge! Which brought me to the subject of self publishing. Looking around at the available publishers, AuthorHouse [...]

Another contribution by Naheed.
I had bought fresh thyme from the Okhla vegetable market and needed to use it in a dish the very same day. Here it goes then: Saute two ripe chopped tomatoes with onion and garlic, put in about 250ml thick tomato puree. Then add fresh basil and thyme along with some salt. [...]

This dish has uncertain origins but I do know it is made by Hindus and Muslims on special occassions. The Hindus call it ‘Meethe Chawal’ or sweet rice and the Muslims call it Zarda. Aamir, a friend at work, brought some from home and was nice enough to share it with all of us.
It is [...]

This is a tasty meal that can be cooked in a jiffy [took me about 11 minutes from beginning to end - active time was about 6 minutes] and the kids love it.
You’ll need some spaghetti, a can of tuna, a block of grana padano cheese, onions, garlic, tomato puree, mixed herbs, salt, pepper and [...]

This is a simple, quick and delicious stir fry that you can whip up in minutes. It uses two [or more if you like] types of mushrooms - button mushrooms and wood ear mushrooms. Here’s what you do:
Soak the wood ear mushrooms in hot stock. You’ll need to replenish the stock from time to time [...]

Apparently, I’ve been doing it wrong all along!
Stuck with the problem of poaching the perfect egg, I’ve been trying to get something close to acceptable for a while. More often than not however, I would end up with thready and tattered whites. Not acceptable!
After doing a bit of reading and some experimenting, here’s the consistent [...]

Star anise, star aniseed, badiane or Chinese star anise, is a spice that closely resembles anise in flavor, obtained from the star-shaped pericarp of Illicium verum, a small native evergreen tree of southwest China. The star shaped fruits are harvested just before ripening. It is widely used in Chinese cuisine, in Indian cuisine where it [...]

These creamy, crunchy and delicious spring rolls are light, crisp and quite simple to make. We had a few friends over for lunch and thought the kids would like them. The adults loved them too!
First the filling - thinly slice some cabbage, mix with tartar sauce, corn kernels, five spice powder, tabasco, salt and worcestershire [...]