Being a chef and a food enthusiast, I am always on a look out for interesting recipes, food trends and dishes from all over the world. Last few days, I have being trying to eat gluten free meals two times a day and it is working out perfect for me. I feel much lighter and more energetic as ever. Also, I have included a large selection of gluten free dishes in my restaurant menu. There is a huge demand for those dishes and people regularly dine in to enjoy the dishes more than ever. Corn is a gluten free ingredient, which is versatile and easily available. The recipe I have chosen this week is bhutte ka kees, which is from Indore, Madhya Pradesh, India. Bhutte ka kees is an easy recipe that you can prepare for your tea break and it keeps you fuller for long time. This is a popular snacks item from Indore and can be prepared in less than 30 minutes. In the recipe, a coarse corn paste is made and cooked with ginger, green chili, curry leaves and other common house-hold spices. Serve bhutte ka kees with masala chai and cookies, a perfect tea time combination.
Talking about the place of origin of the dish, Madhya Pradesh – Madhya means centre and Pradesh means region. As the name denotes it is the state in the centre of Indian peninsula. The state is surrounded by Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Gujrat and Rajasthan. The best part of Indian cuisine is its versatility and variety, every state will have its own cuisine, cooking and eating trends. The cuisines, though different from state to state, often overlap from the neighbouring region. Madhya Pradesh has a large tribal population. Bhopal is the capitol, Gwalior is a historical city and Indore is the largest city and the commercial capital of the state. Madhya Pradesh being a large state, the cuisine varies from region to region. In northern and western parts of the state, wheat and meat are common and in the southern and eastern region, rice and fish are more abundant and eaten accordingly. Indore is also known for its street food specialties and they have a street known as ‘Chatori Gali” translating as foodie’s street. The street is always flocked with tourists and locals wanting to savour mouth-watering local street food dishes and is almost always busy. Some of the specialties from the state are bhutte ka kees, chakki ka shaak, srikhand, malpua, Bhopali kebab, poha and jalebi and dal bafla.
One of the best things about corn is that it is gluten free cereal, similar to some of the newer pseudo grains like quinoa, buckwheat, amaranth, millet. But corn comes at a fraction of their cost and is easily available. The calories are slightly on the higher side about 85 per 100 gms when compared to other vegetables. But fresh sweet corn is lower in calories than other cereal grains like wheat and rice, which still makes it a healthier choice. Most of the calorie count comes from simple carbohydrates like glucose, sucrose rather than complex sugars like amylose and amylopectin, which is a case in the cereals and wheat which we should try and cut down in our daily diet. Sweet corn is a good source of dietary fiber, vitamins and antioxidants in addition to minerals in moderate proportions.
Bhutte ka kees
Ingredients
Sweet corn 2 cup
Clarified butter 1 tbsp
Milk 1 cup
Cumin seeds ½ tsp
Curry leaves 2-3 sprigs
Mustard seeds ½ tsp
Green chilli, chopped 2 no.
Ginger, grated 1 tsp
Turmeric powder ½ tsp
Red chilli powder 1/3 tsp
Asafetida ¼ tsp
Sugar ½ tsp
Lemon juice 1 tsp
Salt to taste
Coriander leaves, chopped 2 tbsp.
Method
Steam the sweet corn is a steamer or boil in a closed vessel to cook the corn.
Drain the water and remove the corn kernels, or
You can also use ready-made sweet corn kernel for the above step.
Add the steamed corn with milk in a food processor and make a coarse paste out of it, keep aside.
In a heavy bottom pan heat the clarified butter over medium heat, add cumin seeds, mustard seeds, curry leaves and asafetida and cook till the seeds splutter.
Add ginger green chilies, turmeric powder and salt, sauté for 30 seconds.
Add the corn paste and cook for 3-5 minutes and add red chili powder.
Add more milk and sugar, cook for another 5 minutes.
Stir well to avoid sticking or burning, add some moisture if required.
Drizzle lemon juice and add chopped coriander leaves.
Serve hot with masala chai or ready-made coffee.
Note: You can also add some ready-made sev, chopped onion and tomato to make it more. delicious and add crunch to it.
* Chef Tarun Kapoor, Culinary Mastermind, USA. He may be contacted at [email protected]
POPULAR: Bhutte ka kees is served with masala chai and cookies, a perfect tea time combination. Photo by the author
