Prepare restaurant-style dishes at home with these easy 5-ingredient recipes

Mumbai chefs share their quick-fix secrets to take the stress out of cooking delicious meals in your kitchen

With the second wave of Covid-19 cases hitting us, Maharashtra now has stricter rules to control the spread of the virus. Even though you cannot go to your favourite restaurant, you can try out simple but tasty recipes at home. We spoke to chefs from popular restaurants and hotels in the city and asked them to share the recipes of these five-ingredient dishes that you can cook at home. 

Snacks and appetisers

Cheese Crackers 
By Sarvesh Karandikar, executive head chef, Cococafe

Ingredients:

Self-rising flour: 150g
Salted butter (chilled and diced): 100g
Grated cheese: 75g
Rosemary and smoked paprika to sprinkle.

Method:

- In a mixing bowl, crumble grated cheese with your fingers to make it a grainy consistency. Remove 25g and set it aside.
- Add flour, followed by butter, into the remaining cheese, and then bring them together till a dough is formed.
- Tip the dough on to a lightly floured surface and roll it out to 5mm thickness, then cut them out in shapes of your choice with a cutter.
- Place them on a baking tray and sprinkle the remaining grated cheese. Bake for 10-12 minutes till they turn golden brown.
- Sprinkle some rosemary and smoked paprika while they cool down to give a slight tinge of spice. Serve cool, paired with a sauce of your choice.

Honey Bird Eye Chilly Chicken Skewers 
By Chef Gaurav Gidwani, F&B head, BrewDog India

Ingredients:

Boneless chicken cubes: 250g 
Soya Sauce: 100ml
Chopped and julliened bird eye chilly (or fresh red chillies): 15g 
Honey: 20ml
Julliened Spring onion greens: 5g 
Skewer Sticks: 5 

Method:

- Wash the chicken cubes and pat them dry with kitchen paper.
- In a bowl, marinate the chicken with soya sauce and chopped chillies for 30 minutes.
- In a non-stick pan, add the marinated cubes of chicken, allow it to cook, add honey, and let it cook some more.
- Remove in a plate, skewer the chicken on the sticks, serve hot garnished with spring onion greens and chilly julliennes.

Soups

Green Goddess Soup
By Maya Pereira Sawant, metabolic nutritionist and founder, Lean Kitchen by Maya

Ingredients:

Broccoli: 200g
Medium-sized shallots: 3
Fresh Coconut milk or almond milk (whatever is available; can be made at home): 1/2 cup 
Salt-and-pepper mix: 2 tsp (or as per taste)
Coconut oil: 10 ml 
Toasted coconut, microgreens or cilantro (optional) to garnish.

Method:

- Heat oil in a medium-sized, heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat.
- Add shallots and sauté with coconut oil until they turn nice and tender. Set aside.
- Add broccoli into another pot with water (it’s okay if the broccoli isn’t fully submerged).
- Now add a pinch of rock salt, bring this to a boil. Cover, lower heat and gently simmer 10-12 minutes, or until the broccoli is fork-tender.
- Turn off the heat and let it cool. Then blend until smooth with a submersion blender or a regular blender (in batches). Add the cooked shallots and blend again, then add a little of the vegetable broth or water. Keep in mind that blending in a blender full of hot soup can be explosive and risky; either fill the blender halfway and place a kitchen towel on top of the lid to firmly hold the lid down while blending, or wait until it has cooled.
- Place the smooth blended soup back in the pot; simmer over low heat.
- Stir in the coconut milk; you can start with half a cup and add more to taste.
- Add the salt-and-pepper mix as per taste.
- Garnish with crisp coconut flakes and microgreens, or cilantro.

Split Pea and Barley Soup 
By Chef Paul Kinny, director of Culinary, The St. Regis, Mumbai

Ingredients: 

Split peas: 220g 
Barley: 80g 
Vegetable broth: 1.5l 
Soup seasoning: 5g 
Carrots: 50g 

Method:

-    Rinse and sort the split peas. 
-    Add them to a large pot with vegetable broth. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 1.5 hours, or until the peas are soft. 
-    While the peas are cooking, bring barley to boil until soft, and most of the water has been absorbed. 
-    When the split pea mixture has become a thick soup, use the blender to puree the peas until the mixture is smooth. 
-    Drain the remaining water from the barley and add it to the split pea mixture. 
-    Add the carrots and continue to simmer the soup for 15 to 30 minutes. 
-    Add the soup seasonings and serve hot.

Summer coolers

Virgin Mango Mojito 
By Travis Braganza, Soba – An Asian Delivery Kitchen

Ingredients: 

Mango pulp: 100g 
Mint leaves: 6-7 
Sugar syrup (or your choice of sweetener): 30ml 
Lemon juice: 15ml 
Soda: 150-180ml 

Method: 

- To make the mango pulp: cut the mango into pieces and blend along with some water. The consistency should be like a thick smoothie. 
- In a glass or cocktail shaker, add mint leaves along with the sugar syrup and muddle 4-5 times. 
- Throw in some ice and add the mango pulp. Add the lemon juice, soda and a pinch of black salt. Give it a good stir, pour into a glass and serve. Garnish with a lemon wedge and mint leaves.

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