Dinner for Two

Forget the dinner reservation at that fancy hotel in town. Rather, cook up a romantic meal for two at home this Valentine’s Day with a little help from Chef Amruta rao from CraftBar. What can be better than some delightful food within the comforts of your own home.

Red & Yellow Cherry Tomato Soup

Ingredients
• 90 g red and yellow cherry tomato
• 6 g onion, chopped
• 3 g carrots, chopped
• 3 g celery, chopped
• 3 g leeks, chopped
• 3 g spring onion (white part only)
• 12 ml tomato purée
• 3 cloves of garlic
• vegetable stock
• 15 g salt
• 5 g white pepper powder
• 60 ml olive oil
• 2 sprigs of fresh basil

Method:

1. Clean both cherry tomatoes and cut into half.
2. In a pot, add a dash of oil and sauté the white part of the spring onion with garlic.
3. Now, add celery, leeks and sauté it well. Then, add red cherry tomato and tomato purée to it.
4. Add stock, seasoning and basil and let it get cooked. Once it gets cooked, churn it well and strain.
5. While serving, check the seasoning and serve hot.
6. The same process should be followed while making yellow cherry tomato soup but without tomato purée.
7. While serving it, pour both soups together to achieve a nice colour and proportion.

Glassy Classy Salad

Ingredients
• 60 g lettuce iceburg
• 60 g lettuce romain
• 60 g lettuce lollorosso
• 20 g cherry tomato
• 20 g onion
• 20 g black olives
• 50 g malta orange
• 50 g sweet lime
• 100 g pomello
• 5 g citrus rub
• 15 ml citrus dressing

For the Citrus Rub
• 20 g orange powder
• 20 g basil powder
• 250 g sea salt
• 100 g garlic powder
• 100 g grain sugar
• 150 g onion powder

For the Citrus Dressing
• 1 litre orange juice
• 160 ml olive oil
• 10 g citrus rub
• 60 ml vinegar white

Method:
For the Citrus Rub

1. Mix all powders in a bowl, add sea salt and grain sugar into it. If coarse, then put it in a blender but do not make a fine powder.

For the Citrus Dressing

1. Reduce orange juice and let it cool.
2. In a bowl, take orange reduction and vinegar and whisk well.
3. Now, slowly start adding olive oil and whisk slowly in 3:1 proportion respectively.
4. Add citrus rub and season.

For the Salad Finishing

1. Clean all lettuce and keep aside.
2. Peel malta orange, sweet lime fruit and pomello and remove wedges.
3. Cut onion into rings.
4. In a bowl, take clean lettuce and add citrus wedges, cherry tomato, onion rings and olives.
5. Add dressing to it and mix slowly with your hands, then sprinkle citrus rub in salad lettuce.
6. Serve on a plate and garnish it with sprinkle of citrus rub.
7. Serve fresh and chilled.

Tandoori Momos

Ingredients
• 200 g chicken mince
• 10 g garlic, chopped
• 10 g ginger, chopped
• 2 g green chillies, chopped
• 5 g celery
• 50 g cabbage, chopped
• 20 g carrot, chopped
• 10 g spring onion, chopped
• 5 g salt
• 3 g white pepper
• Momo sheets
• 15 ml soya sauce
• 200 g tandoori green chutney

Method:

1. In a pan, put some oil and add chopped garlic, chopped ginger and sauté well.
2. Now, add celery, carrot, cabbage respectively after an interval.
3. At the end, put in spring onions, green chilli, salt, white pepper and soya
   sauce respectively.
4. Once this is done, let the mixture get cool.
5. After cooling, add mixture into chicken mince; mix well and then keep aside.
6. Take a momo sheet, cut into rounds and start making momos as per your desired shape.
7. Now, at the side, keep water for steaming.
8. Once momos are done, steam them well and allow them to cool at room temperature.

Solkadhi Shots with Prawn Golgappa

Ingredients
• 50 g fresh baby prawns
• 50 g onions
• 2 g green chillies
• 5 g coriander leaves
• 1 no. lime (juiced)
• 2 g salt
• 2 g pepper
• 6 nos. golgappa
• 180 ml solkadhi

For Solkadhi
• 1 no. fresh coconut
• 5 g ginger
• 5 g garlic
• 5 g green chilli
• 50 ml kokum syrup
• 3 g salt

Method:
For the Stuffing

1. Clean fresh baby prawns and keep aside.
2. In a pan, add a dash of oil and onions and let it turn golden brown.
3. Then, add the prawns and sauté well.
   At the end, add chopped green chillies and chopped coriander. Then, add seasoning and allow it to cool.

For the Solkadhi

1. Clean fresh coconut, de-shell it and cut into pieces.
2. In a mixture bowl, churn coconut, ginger and garlic together, with some water.
3. Once done, strain and squeeze the mixture to remove milk from coconut.
4. Then, add kokum syrup (agal) to the coconut milk.
5. Add salt to it and refrigerate.

For Serving

1. Make a hole in the golgappa and add the stuffing.
2. In shot glasses, add chilled solkadhi and serve.

Chermula Charred Tiger Prawns

Ingredients:
• 300 g tiger prawns
• 20 g oil
• 10 g garlic
• 1 no. lime (juiced)
• 10 g parsley
• 5 g mint
• 10 g coriander
• 3 g salt
• 3 g pepper
• 10 g butter

For the pomegranate couscous
• 30 g couscous
• 20 g pomogranate
• 2 g salt
• 1 g pepper
• 1 no. lime (juiced)
• 10g parsley
• 60 ml balsamic vinegar
• 60 g French beans

Method:
For Chermula

1. In a jar, churn oil, garlic, parsley, mint, coriander together. Do not make a fine paste; let it remain coarse.
2. Then, add lime juice and season.
3. Meanwhile, in another bowl, soak couscous.
4. In another pan, add balsamic vinegar and reduce it to make reduction.
5. Clean tiger prawns, d-vein and wash well. Marinate with the chermula.

For serving

1. Char grill the prawns on a griller or barbeque them.
2. In a pan, sauté couscous with oil, onion and garlic.
3. Then, add pomegranate, squeeze lime juice into it and seasoning.
4. Sauté beans with butter and seasoning.
5. While plating, put couscous, prawns wandbuttered beans and nicely arrang them. Drizzle balsamic reduction on the top.

Drunken White Salmon with Coconut Herb Rice, Spinach and Caper Sauce

Ingredients:
For the Coconut Herb Rice
• 30 g basmati rice
• 2 g thyme
• 2 g basil
• 2 g oregano
• 30 ml coconut milk
• 5 g butter
• 2 g salt
• 2 g pepper

For the Caper Sauce
• 5 g caper
• 20 ml cooking cream
• 5 g oil
• 20 g onion
• 5 g garlic
• 1 g salt
• 2 g pepper

Method:

1. In a bowl, add oil, chilli paste, salt and pepper, mix it well and marinate fish in it.
2. In another pan, make steamed rice and while cooking rice, add coconut milk.

For Serving:

1. Grill fish well from both the sides.
2. In another pan, sauté some onions and garlic. Then, add steamed rice and coconut cream if it is not added initially and then add chopped herbs.
   Sprinkle seasoning.
3. In another pan, sauté spinach with a dash of oil, onion and garlic, sprinkle seasoning.
4. Then, chop capers, sauté with onion and garlic. Add the cream and seasoning to it. You can either serve it cold or hot.

Lord of the Wings

Ingredients
• 300 g chicken wing
• 15 g ginger paste
• 15 g garlic paste
• 10 g garam masala powder
• 2 g coriander powder
• 2 g red chilli powder
• 10 g parsley
• 30 g lemon
• 5 g honey
• 100 ml oil
• 15 g Sriracha Sauce

Method:

1. Clean chicken wings, wash and dry well.
2. Marinate with ginger-garlic paste, garam masala powder, coriander powder and red chilli powder with a dash of oil.
   Marinate overnight.
3. Now, remove chicken wings and fry till crisp.
4. In a pan, take little oil and add Sriracha sauce.
5. Then, add honey and squeeze lime into it.
6. Sprinkle parsley for garnish, you can serve it with Aioli or any of your favourite sauce.