Besam Paare (Spicy Indian Crackers)

This is my first attempt at making Besam Paare (Spicy Indian Crackers). For the recipe, please go here.

I have memories of eating very delicious spicy home made crackers at a neighbor's house when I was little, and I had a craving for them. I'm not sure if Manjula's recipe is exactly the same, but I think these are similar to the ones I remember eating. It could be the flavor of carom seeds and lentil flour that bring back memories.

I had a nice relaxing afternoon with a teapot of sweetened cardamom tea, eating these and just staring at the Mediterranean sea.

Spicy Black Bean & Sweet Potato Soup

It's a warm sunny day here on Costa del Sol after days and days of wet, dark, stormy days and floods. In fact, it's like Swedish summer. It's one of those breezy days filled with sunlight. There are yellow flowers blooming in the verdant fields and the sky above you is a perfect shade of blue. It's one of those nearly perfect days when you can simply enjoy the weather and be happy that you are in this place and have the time to take a walk.

It's perhaps not the ideal weather for a piping hot bowl of spicy soup, but since I already had some black beans soaking in some water in a bowl, I thought I'd go ahead and make soup anyway.

Some people like their soups devoid of texture or fiber and always use a blender and sieve, and although I do use the blender from time to time (depending on the soup), I prefer a chunky wholesome soup where the ingredients have managed to retain some semblance of their former glory.

If you're vegetarian or freaked out by bouillon cubes, just omit the beef bouillon and I'm sure it will still be fine. If you or someone in your family is freaked out by texture, you can also put the soup through the blender before serving it. Remember to remove the bay leaves and dried chilies if you're blending it, and if you are afraid that 2 chilies might be too much, use 1 chili. Well, you know the drill?

Spicy Black Bean & Sweet Potato Soup

Ingredients

2 Cups Black Beans (soaked overnight and cooked for 1 hour or until soft)

1 Large Sweet Potato (peeled and diced)

1 Medium Potato (peeled and diced)

4 Medium Tomatoes (diced)

1/4 Onion (chopped finely)

2 Cloves Garlic (chopped finely)

2 Bay Leaves

1 Tsp Cumin Seeds

1 Tsp Coriander Powder

Pinch Nutmeg

2 Whole Red Chilies (Dried or Fresh - Seeded)

1 Tsp Smoked Paprika Powder

2 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Whipped Cream (1 spoonful on top of each serving)

Fresh Cilantro (chopped and sprinkled on top, a sprig for garnishing or none if you hate it!)

1 Beef Bouillon Cube*

Salt & Black Pepper (to taste)

Whipped Cream (unsweetened)

*Optional. I used half a cube.

Step 1: Heat up the oil in your soup pot and when the oil is hot enough throw in the cumin seeds and let them pop a bit before putting in the garlic and onion. Sautee a bit and then add the rest of the spices to help them release their aroma.

Step 2: Put in the rest of the ingredients and blend them with the oil and spice mixture well first, and then add the tomatoes.

Step 3: Add enough water to cover the ingredients and lower the heat to simmer it for 1 hour. Add the bay leaves and beef bouillon if you wish.

Step 4: After around 60 minutes taste the soup and add salt & black pepper to taste.

Step 5: Serve with a dollop of whipped unsweetened cream on top and enjoy!

Scalloped Lemon Dill Potatoes

Today was an unusually overcast day and the photography session on my kitchen counter did not go well. I guess if the lighting is bad enough, not even Photoshop can salvage it. I was going to show you how lovely this looked before it went into the oven, but I guess we'll just have to be satisfied with the final results.

This is a very simple recipe you can make with an extra boiled potato that you had leftover from yesterday...because you boiled too many of them...or you can boil on afresh if you really want.

Scalloped Lemon Dill Potatoes

Ingredients

1 Big Potato Boiled with its Skin On

Fresh Dill

2 Cloves Garlic

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Lemon Salt (You can make it with fresh lemon rind and salt if you wish)

Black Pepper

Chili

Coarse Spanish Paprika

Step 1: Preheat your oven to 250C. Get your biggest casserole dish and line it with oven paper.

Step 2: Slice the potatoes as thinly as you can and then lay them in one layer in the casserole dish.

Step 3: Sprinkle with lemon salt, black pepper, fresh dill, chili and paprika.

Step 4: Make another layer on top and do the same thing.

Step 5: Drizzle extra virgin olive oil and place 2 garlic cloves on top.

Step 6: Roast in oven for 30 minutes or until the top layer has browned a bit and looks crispy.

This would make a nice side dish for a lot of things but I have to be honest. I just had this with eggs & Kalles on the side. This was my Sunday morning brunch!