Grilled Chicken & Hummus Wraps

Hello, boys and girls!

Welcome to cooking with Varun! New year's eve is arguably the most hyped night of the year. Apart from being hyped, it is also arguably the most disappointing night of the year. You make big plans with your friends on a Saturday night in a pub after you've had a few drinks in November, to go to places and do things to ring in the new year together, and as the day draws closer, people start to drop off with excuses of other plans. Worse, are people who say, 'I'm not sure if I can make it, but I will definitely let you know next week', because it's never next week, and on the off chance that they do give a positive confirmation, it's too late to make bookings, and you have to switch to plan B, which is almost always just another party in the city. It's the same as most Saturday nights but it costs 4 times as much, there are twice as many people, and they play 'The Final Countdown' at 23:59 for 2 minutes instead of whatever else they would usually be playing at the time, and as the clock hits midnight, couples around you start to snog, as you wait awkwardly for them to stop so you can get around to wishing each other.

Not to be too much of a downer though, I've had my fair share of disappointing new year's eves, and I've had a few good ones too. I've been to parties with my best friends and danced the night away, I've been to ones where we were buzzing at 22:00, passed out at 01:00, and up at 05:00 to go white water rafting, I've traipsed across Switzerland, I've even been home alone eating steak and potatoes while watching House of Cards. The more memorable ones however, (predictably) involve girls. These girls generally fall in the following categories: 'Girls I'll never get', 'Girls I'll never ever get', and 'Don't even think about it'. 2011-12 was the year of 'Girls I'll never get'; I spent most of the night talking to a pretty blonde at the party only to have her disappear at 23:55, then 5 minutes later, the ball dropped, and presto, snogging couples. 2014-15 was the year of 'Girls I'll never ever get'; I was at a house party and there was this gorgeous girl in yoga pants, really pretty, easy to talk to, and quite fun. We talked for a long time and seemed to be getting on great but every time we had a moment, we'd get interrupted by her best friend's boyfriend. This went on until the whisky finally caught up with her and she passed out leaving me looking around at, yes, snogging couples. I found out later (to my appalling luck) that she had instructed Interrupting Boy to make sure she didn't get too close to anyone. 2012-13 was the year of 'Don't even think about it'. I was at a party with my friends in a club in Sheffield, UK, when I saw quite easily the prettiest girl in Sheffield at the bar. She was wearing a dark green dress and the light bounced off her hair as she tried to get the bartender's attention to order a drink. Maybe it was the alcohol, maybe it was just new year's, but for the first time, I was compelled to make a move. Any move. But my mouth had forgotten how to speak and there's only so long a brown bloke can stare at a white girl in a bar without it getting creepy so I just pointed at her, and gave a  thumbs-up, smiled and hurried away. Incidentally, it turned out that she was sitting right where we were and a few exchanged glances and smiles later, we struck up a conversation. Conversation led to dance (poorly on my part), and dance led to shots. About then, the DJ started counting down, she went back to her friends, I looked around, the ball dropped, and once again I was trapped in a sea of snogging couples. The night wasn't a total loss though, I did see her as the party was ending, and we exchanged digits. I haven't met her since, but we began talking and became pretty good friends (and still are). She reads my recipes and since she is partial to chicken, has promised to try out my recipe for butter chicken. (You should too, it's fantastic!)

Today's recipe is another chicken recipe that is really yum, and super healthy.

For my Grilled Chicken And Hummus Wraps, you will need the following:

Chicken breasts	4
Hummus	generous amount
Tomatoes	2
Cucumber	1
Lettuce	1
Whole wheat tortillas	4
Salt	to taste
Pepper	to taste
Oil

Prep:

1. Make little cuts on the meat.
2. Sprinkle on the salt and pepper.
3. Rub the seasoning on both sides.
4. Cut up the tomatoes.
5. Cut up the cucumber.
6. Tear the lettuce. 

Method:

1. Turn on the gas.
2. Bung a griddle pan on.
3. Splash in some oil and spread it evenly.
4. Wait until the oil heats up.
5. Slap on the chicken. 
6. Step back from the sputtering oil.
7. Cook for 5-6 minutes and flip the chicken over.
8. Cook for another 4 minutes or so until the chicken is cooked all the way through.
9. Crank the heat up, and flip the chicken a couple of times for a few seconds each to get the grill marks.
10. Turn the gas off.
11. Take the chicken off the pan and let it rest for a few minutes.
12. Cut the chicken into biggish cubes.
13. Grab a tortilla.
14. Slather on the hummus.
15. Plop on the chicken.
16. Throw on the lettuce.
17. Toss on the tomatoes. 
18. Pop on some cucumber.
19. Roll it into a wrap. (Or wrap it into a roll.)
20. Wipe the griddle pan clean and bung it on the burner again. (Medium-high heat.)
21. Put the wrap on for a few seconds on each side to get the griddle marks on.
22. Serve.
23. Stuff face.
24. Bask in the glory of your successfully executed dish.

Tip: You can use more (or different) veggies if you want. Grill them in olive oil and a little salt and pepper, or just add them fresh.

And remember, overeating is a myth. A full tummy is a happy tummy!

Kaale Chane

Hello, boys and girls!

Welcome to cooking with Varun. I'm quite big on fitness and how my body looks. Okay, fine, you got me. I'm obsessed with it. For years, I've been hitting the gym nearly every single day, with the sole purpose of pushing myself until I find my breaking point. And not just the gym, I played football twice a week, went swimming, I even did the Insanity workout! Twice! Fortunately for me though, my body has a tendency not to put on weight, so it's been easier for me to sculpt my body the way I like, without me having to give up on eating certain foods, or drinking certain beverages. I do however, try to avoid things that I know are bad for the body and that I can do without. For instance, I avoid fizzy drinks, or anything with too much sugar; I've swapped sugar for honey in my milkshakes, and I've cut back on processed foods. I'm not a fanatic by any means, I still eat and drink this stuff, but a lot less than I used to, simply because it's easy to.

I've worked out with a lot of partners, and taken advice from a lot of trainers, and despite their different approaches to training and nutrition, they are all united in their advice on protein intake. Simply put, your body needs it. You can get protein from a variety of sources like meat, poultry, eggs, seafood, beans, legumes, nuts, seeds, and even supplements like whey. Whey is pretty good and I've used it intermittently after workouts where I've really pushed myself, but I'm not big on supplements so I tend to stick more to the natural things. Also, a steak dinner is heaven after a long, hard workout! But if you're vegetarian, or not keen on eating chicken and eggs all the time, it helps to have alternatives that taste good. (I mean peanuts taste good, but how many can you eat?) A lot of my recipes, are protein rich (if you hold back on the fat), and are most excellent to eat after a weekend morning workout. Rajma, dal, chicken, the works. 

Today's recipe is an addition to the long list of things that are rich in protein that you can eat that taste pretty darn good if you ask me!

For my Kaale Chane, you will need the following:

Kaale chane (black chickpeas)	250 gms
Onion	1 large
Tomatoes	2 large
Ginger garlic paste	2 tsp
Dhaniya (coriander) powder	2 tsp
Jeera (cumin) powder	1 tsp
Red chilli powder	2 tsp
Garam masala	1 tsp
Salt	to taste
Oil

Prep:

1. Soak the kaale chane in water overnight.
2. Grate the onion.
3. Pureé the tomatoes. (Or just use tomato pureé.)

Method:

1. Toss the floating chane.
2. Drain the water from the chane.
3. Grab a pressure cooker.
4. Bounce the chane in.
5. Add water until the chane are submerged 3 fingers deep.
6. Pinch in some salt.
7. Lock the pressure cooker.
8. Turn the gas on. 
9. Crank it up to high.
10. Bung the cooker on.
11. Wait impatiently for the first whistle.
12. Drop the heat on the cooker burner to low and leave it for 30-35 minutes. (Ignore all the sounds your cooker makes in this time.)
13. Turn the burner off.
14. Wait for the steam to escape the cooker. (Don't open it!)
15. Put on another burner.
16. Bung a saucepan/kadhai on.
17. Splash in some oil.
18. Count to 20.
19. Slap in the onions.
20. Cook the onions until brown. (The onions, not you. Otherwise I would end up cooking the onions for 0 seconds.)
21. Pop in the ginger garlic paste.
22. Cook until the onions get dark brown.
23. Sprinkle in the coriander powder, cumin powder, red chilli powder, and garam masala.
24. Mix.
25. Add in a dash of water.
26. Mix until the powders blend in with the onion.
27. Pour in the pureed tomatoes.
28. Cook until the oil separates from the tomatoes.
29. Drop the heat to low.
30. Shift your attention to the pressure cooker.
31. Lift the weight to let out any lingering steam
32. Open the cooker. (The chane should be soft; not quite like white chickpeas or rajma, but soft nonetheless.)
33. Fish out the chane and add them into the tomato-onion base. (Don't pour the water away. That is liquid gold!)
34. Add salt to taste.
35. Cook for a minute or two.
36. Pour in the chane-water from the cooker into the kadhai.
37. Mix well.
38. Crank the heat up to bring the contents to a boil, then drop to low and let it simmer.
39. Turn gas off.
40. Sprinkle on some garam masala.
41. Let it rest (lid on) for a few minutes.
42. Serve with (jeera) rice.
43. Stuff face.
44. Bask in the glory of your successfully executed dish.

Tip: If you have any left over, you can dry the liquid out (I just pour it into a bowl and chug it), throw in some chopped onions, tomatoes, cucumber, green chillies, coriander, squeeze on some lemon juice, and sprinkle on some chaat masala to make a most excellent salad.

And remember, overeating is a myth. A full tummy is a happy tummy!

Bread Upma

Hello, boys and girls!

Welcome to cooking with Varun! My weekend routine in Istanbul was pretty tame. On Saturdays, I'd wake late, freshen up, and head to the gym for a painful workout with my big Iraqi friend, Khal Haivan (named because he's a Game of Thrones loving beast). We'd then make the short walk to the mall nearby where we'd eat a ton of junk food to essentially cancel out all our hard work, and then watch a movie at the cinema in the mall at student prices. Khal Haivan was studying to get his masters degree and therefore had a legit student card, and me with my boyish looks and angelic face never raised any red flags so I was never asked for proof. What's odd is, I always went to the same girl at the counter even when I was alone and bought full price tickets but she never questioned it (and with like 6 Indians in the vicinity, it really was most curious). We'd head home after the movie and then meet up again in the evening, joined by a few others, to hit the local bars by the Bosphorous or at the always buzzing Istiklal street where we'd eat, drink, and make merry, and eventually groggily stumble home late in the night.

Sundays were slightly less fun. They began (occasionally) with a steaming portion of regret and a big moan, on account of the shenanigans of the previous night. I would roll slowly out of bed, feel my way to the bathroom to brush my teeth, and then fix myself a glass of a haldi waala doodh (milk with turmeric) and down that with a Saridon for my headache. Once the pounding had stopped, I'd find my trusty cleaning gear and proceed to spruce up my house until it shone. Then very carefully, I'd tiptoe into the kitchen and fix myself something to eat. Most Sundays, lunch was rajma chawal, but on the odd occasion I wanted something less lunchy, I'd cook an extra large portion of breakfast and call it lunch. Paired with a large glass of milkshake, with my TV shows on the telly, it was the perfect way to spend Sunday until it was time to cook a lavish dinner, after which it was officially time to wallow in self pity because the weekend was over and Monday was just around the corner.

One such go to breakfast masquerading as lunch dish that I cooked was Bread Upma, which apart from being simpler to cook than it is to fall off a boat, is a great way to use up all of your bread even if it has been sitting around for a bit. 

For my Bread Upma you will need the following:

Bread	8-10 slices
Onion	1 small
Tomato	1 small
Green chillies	1
Garlic	1 clove (it is breakfast after all)
Ketchup	2 big squirts from a squeezie bottle
Turmeric (haldi) powder	1/2 tsp
Red chilli powder	1-2 tsp
Water	in a bowl for dunking
Salt	to taste
Lemon juice	big squeeze
Oil

Prep:

1. Chop the onion.
2. Chop the tomato.
3. Chop the chilli.
4. Mince the garlic.

Method:

1. Turn on the gas.
2. Bung a pan on.
3. Splash in some oil.
4. Count to 20.
5. Bounce in the mustard seeds.
6. Roll in the chilli.
7. Shake in the garlic.
8. Pop in the onion.
9. Cook until soft.
10. Plop in the tomato.
11. Sprinkle on the haldi, and red chilli powders.
12. Give the bread slices a quick dunk in a bowl of water, tear them into pieces, and throw them into the pan.
13. Squirt on the ketchup.
14. Add salt to taste.
15. Mix well.
16. Cook for a few minutes.
17. Turn the gas off.
18. Squeeze on some lemon juice.
19. Serve.
20. Stuff face.
21. Bask in the glory of your successfully executed dish.

Tip: White or brown bread is ideal for this. The one with seeds isn't so great. The one I've used in the picture is brown, although white looks prettier!

And remember, overeating is a myth. A full tummy is a happy tummy!

Bacon, Cheese, & Jalapeno Stuffed French Toast

Hello, boys and girls!

Welcome to cooking with Varun! There are several mistakes one can make while travelling, and I made a bunch of them on my trip to Paris while I was in Solihull, UK, back in August of 2014. Mistake #1 was opting to take a bus tour instead of planning the trip myself like I would normally do, but by the time we had decided to go, it was too late to plan anything. Mistake #2 was picking a bus tour run by an Indian company that catered almost exclusively to Indians. I'm not being racist here (I'm Indian too), but tours of this nature tend to be tailored in such a way that one does not fully experience the culture of the place you are visiting.  Mistake #3 was taking the trip with my married couple friends. This part wasn't so bad, because they are practically family, but one can only take so many pictures of a happy couple without feeling a twinge of wanting a partner there too. Mistake #4, perhaps my most grievous error, was forgetting that steak tartare meant raw steak, and eating it anyway, only to end up with a horrendous stomachache and hours of fun twisting in pain.

We began our tour in London, where we boarded our bus early in the morning that first drove to Dover, then boarded a ferry to Calais, and finally made it's way to Paris. We arrived in Paris late in the afternoon, and the first place we visited was the Eiffel tower. We queued up with the rest of our party, took the lift up to the top and drank in the gorgeous views of the city as it spread beneath us. After we had had our fill of gazing upon the sights, we began our journey down on foot, opting to take the stairway instead of the lift and rejoined our tour where our bus was parked. Our tour guide told us that given the alleged lateness of the hour and the fact that our fellow passengers were hungry, the tour would be going to an Indian restaurant for an early dinner and then straight to the hotel and resume the following day. We weren't tired or hungry (having eaten in the little cafe on the tower), so we decided to ditch the tour and go exploring on our own. Armed with a map and a piece of paper with the hotel name, we set off walking along the banks of the Seine. Since it was still light out, we decided to make a fleeting visit to the Louvre to have a quick peek at the Mona Lisa and the Venus De Milo. A quick Google search revealed that the museum would be open until 8 so we hurried and made it with less than an hour to spare. We were warned of the closing time as we bought our tickets, and after consulting with the museum map, raced through the museum to see the Mona Lisa. It wasn't difficult to find, once we were in the right section, all we did was follow the throng of people armed with cameras to a big room only to discover that we had 'bigged' the painting up in our head. It ended up being a little thing on the wall with a big sheet of protective glass around it and more people than at a sale at Primark. Having seen the famed painting, we popped over to the room to see the Venus De Milo, and with no time to see anything else, were ushered out. Yelp suggested a restaurant with authentic French cuisine (the one with the tartare), and a short train ride from the Saint-Germain-des-Prés metro station later, we arrived at our hotel.

The following day was one I was really looking forward to. Disneyland. And I was not disappointed. After hours of doing the rides, eating, hanging with Mickey and crew, we ended the day with a spectacular parade and I was really quite sad that we had to leave. Our tour guide informed us, like the day before, that we would be going to an Indian restaurant for dinner and then straight to the hotel, and because my married couple was tired, I grudgingly consented (and by that I mean I complained non-stop). As expected, the 'restaurant' was a joint owned by the tour company, and the food was terrible. Barely fit for human consumption. And the added bonus of being fed like inmates by staff whose expressions suggested that they would rather be dead, did little to improve my quickly darkening mood. 

Our last day was quite nice, we had a river cruise in the morning and a drive through Champs-Élysées (I would have preferred a stroll, but it was a tour with a deadline), and then we headed back to the UK. Our return was made interesting by a man sneaking on board our bus to illegally cross over to the UK, resulting in a 2 hour delay as they searched every single vehicle at Calais before we were permitted to board the ferry, and the humdinger of a stomachache that nearly drove me to seppuku.

All in all, even though it was in France, it wasn't nearly as French as I had hoped, but still considerably more French than this French toast recipe.

For my Bacon, Cheese, & Jalapeno Stuffed French Toast, you will need the following:

Bread	6 slices
Eggs	2
Bacon	6 rashers
Cheese	3 slices (you can cut them off a block if you want)
Jalapenos	10-12 slices (out of the jar)
Milk	splash
Salt	to taste
Butter

Prep:

1. Crack the eggs into a shallow bowl. (If it recites poetry, it's way too deep.)
2. Splash some milk in.
3. Add salt to taste.
4. Whisk.
5. Fry up the bacon. (Retain the pan and the bacon grease.)
6. Cut/unwrap the cheese slices.

Method:

1. Put a slice of cheese on 3 of the bread slices.
2. Pop 2 rashers of bacon on.
3. Throw on the jalapenos. 
4. Pop the remaining slices of bread onto the topped ones to make 3 sandwiches.
5. Turn on the gas.
6. Bung the bacon pan on.
7. Plop some butter in and watch it blend with the gorgeous bacon grease.
8. Pick a sandwich up and dip it in the egg mixture, making sure to cover it uniformly.
9. Pop it in the pan.
10. Cook on each side for 2-3 minutes. (You'll be able to see when it's done.)
11. Transfer it to a plate.
12. Repeat for the other sandwiches.
13. Turn the gas off.
14. Stuff face.
15. Bask in the glory of your successfully executed dish.

Tip: Never eat Indian food with a bus tour in Europe. 

And remember, overeating is a myth. A full tummy is a happy tummy.

Cheesy Stuffed Mushrooms

Hello, boys and girls!

Welcome to cooking with Varun! Back in 2011, when I was living in Antrim, Northern Ireland, I was discovering the joys of being a housekeeper. Living with Big-Talking-UPite, and Beer-Chugging-Goan, it wasn't hard to fit myself into the role, since they were both too lazy to clean up after themselves. At all. Ever. Not once. Nada. But to be a good housekeeper, I first had to get the necessary equipment. So we dialled the local taxi service, commissioned a cab, and 15 minutes later, rolled into the parking lot of the local ASDA looking like a poor man's <insert generic, moderately successful 3 member boy band name here>, albeit a little more homeless, since Big-Talking-UPite refused to shower on weekends (or most other days), and Beer-Chugging-Goan was still half asleep. We walked into the store, headed to the cleaning products aisle, carefully looked at each of the vacuum cleaners on display, and after painstakingly taking into account the weight, the suction, the number of attachments, the width of the head vs. the width of our stairs, the kind of surfaces they would work best on, we bought the cheapest one. It was a little white thing, that cost us 20 quid, and having paired it with a mop, and floor cleaners, we rolled back home.

Over the next few weeks, our vacuum cleaner and I spent some wonderful hours together. Every Sunday, I would wake up before my lazy man children, put my headphones on, crank the volume up on my iPod, and shimmy and shake and make the place spotless. Starting downstairs, in the kitchen, moving to the living room, and then finally up the stairs to the bedrooms. It was the kind of stuff you'd put in a video montage, complete with slow-mo running, and harps playing in the background. Things were going swell, so you can imagine my surprise when one morning, my baby just wouldn't suck the crumbs off the kitchen floor. I swapped the heads, shook it around, but to no avail. As I sat despondent, with my head in my hands, Big-Talking-UPite plodded down the stairs and after a deep swig of his prune juice, enquired about what was making me so very glum. As I described to him the plight of my beloved, and how it wouldn't suck any more, he picked it up, popped it open and informed me that there was nothing wrong, the bag was just full. Relief washed over me in waves (like the ocean on a warm summer's day), and he scooped out the full bag, and replaced it with a fresh one. I lovingly picked my baby up and the video montage resumed, this time with Big-Talking-UPite's face as a shining sun in the top corner, not unlike the baby on the very disturbing Teletubbies show.

Speaking of things that don't suck, this recipe doesn't either, and is really very simple and makes for an excellent appetizer.

For my Cheesy Stuffed Mushrooms, you will need the following:

Mushrooms	12 big
Parmesan	200 gms.
Garlic	5-8 cloves
Spring onions	2
Salt	to taste
Pepper	to taste
Red pepper powder	to taste
Oil

Prep:

1. Separate the stalks from the mushrooms and hollow out the heads.
2. Mince the mushroom stalks.
3. Mince the garlic.
4. Grate the parmesan.
5. Chop up the spring onion greens.
6. Grab a bowl.
7. Plonk in the chopped stalks.
8. Pop in the garlic.
9. Dump in the parmesan. (I usually throw in a couple more melty types depending on what's in the fridge. Usually cheddar or cream cheese.)
10. Sprinkle in some red pepper powder.
11. Add salt and pepper.
12. Mix.

Method:

1. Grab a mushroom in your left hand. (Or right hand if you're left handed.)
2. Grab a spoon in the other.
3. Spoon up the stalk-cheese mixture.
4. Fill in the mushroom heads.
5. Repeat until they are all full.
6. Turn on the gas.
7. Bung a pan on.
8. Splash in some oil.
9. Count to 10.
10. Put the mushrooms in (stuffing side up).
11. Pop a lid on.
12. Cook for ~10 minutes until done. (You see the cheese begin to bubble.)
13. Take the lid off.
14. Turn off the gas.
15. Garnish with spring onion greens.
16. Serve.
17. Stuff face.
18. Bask in the glory of your successfully executed dish.

Tip: You could try and cover the stuffing with some mozzarella. That'll keep the stuffing from oozing out and will make it cheesier. You can also bake the mushrooms in a fan assisted oven at 180 degrees for ~20 mins.

And remember, overeating is a myth. A full tummy is a happy tummy!