Hot summer days are here, and what I dislike the most about this weather is that non-vegetarian food items often take a backseat mainly because of too much oil, their heavy and rich texture, and even the range of spices used in preparing them. It’s the perfect time to put on my chef’s hat and get the meat skills into order — because if you seek, only then will you find a large range of options in meats and seafood, which when cooked and presented correctly make non-vegetarian food equally appetising.
Summer months mean going off seafood doesn’t really hold true in India. ‘The months without R’ in India mean that the monsoons are coming in from the south, and it’s blistering hot in the north, thereby the fresh water catch being fine. And in most modern cities, correct storage and cold chain supplies ensure fresh seafood supplies. In most inland parts of India, the seafood produce is IQF (frozen by a quick freeze technology) and has a longer shelf life under proper refrigeration conditions.
Hot summer months are an ideal time to switch to lean meats — chicken and turkey are the best fits. If you’re a red meat lover, you don’t have to give it up, just switch to leaner cuts of meat.
In Chinese cuisine, there are cold recipes or chilled dishes, with my favourite being sweet and sour cucumber with cured ham. Chilled spinach with sesame is possibly one of the most refreshing and tasty ones coming from that region. And a popular add-on to this is dried shrimp, for the non-vegetarians’ soul.
Another popular belief is that it is the time to eschew spices, since they generate heat and make you perspire. On the contrary, they help the body cool down when the outside temperatures are high. They are also great anti-oxidants. Our humble jeera or cumin is a great cooling spice along with being a detox. It is also a favoured remedy for acidity-related issues. Jeera finds its way in a variety of dishes including stir-fried Chinese meats from Hunan province.
Chilies in all their glorious forms, particularly the potent Rajasthani lal mirch, find favour both in the bukhni from Pakistan, and in the murgh ka soola from Rajasthan. They are actually great options for cooling foods.
Mint and coriander have been used for decades to make salsa, chutneys and spreads, not just in India but globally from Thailand to Mexico. It’s an excellent additive to make a lean mutton dish perkier.
My dinners are incomplete without kilos of salad. It ranges from the Caesar salad to a prawn and iceberg cocktail or a mix of green leaves with a honey-mustard vinaigrette and cold cuts, along with chilled boiled eggs, mustard and mayo sandwiches.
During evenings, light steamed fish makes for an appetising meal with any of the mixed greens. A recent discovery has also been bacon jam with crisp melba toast, or hummus chips with chilli salsa and cocktail sausages — that’s a no brainer! And that’s what summers should be — easy to cook up without sweating it out in the kitchen!
The writer is a chef and founder, Under One Roof Hotel Consultants P Ltd
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EGG AND MUSTARD SANDWICHES
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Ingredients
- Boiled eggs 2
- Bread 8 slices
- Mustard 5 gm (sharp, grainy)
- Mayo 3 tsp
- Salt to taste
- Pepper to taste
- Fresh chopped green coriander (10 gm)
Method
- Chop the boiled eggs. Season with salt and pepper
- Add mustard and mayo and then mix thoroughly.
- Add coriander.
- Spoon the mixture onto the bread and place the
- second one on top and cut off the sides.Repeat for remainder sandwiches.
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GARLIC AND CHIlLI PRAWNS
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Ingredients
- Prawns deveined 6
- Chilli flakes 5 gm
- Garlic clove 4
- Olive oil 20 ml
- Salt to taste
- Lemon juice 1 tsp
- Lemon zest 2 gm
GRANNY SMITH APPLE REMOULADE
- Lemon zest 2 gm
- Granny smith apple (julienne) 20 gm
- Mayonnaise 15 gm
- Whole grain mustard 3 gm
WASABI MAYO
- Mayonnaise 15 gm
- Wasabi paste 2 gm
Method
- Prepare a marination with olive oil, lemon zest, lemon juice, chilli flakes and garlic. Season it.
- Add the deveined prawns to the marination.
- Put olive oil in a pan and fry the prawns till they are crispy and golden in colour.
- Serve the chilli prawns on the bed of granny smith apple remulade and wasabi mayo. Garnish with dill and slice of lemon
For the Remoulade:
Stew apples with one teaspoon sugar for about 2 minutes on slow heat. Cool them, mix them with mayo and mustard and the remoulade is ready.
For Wasabi Mayo:
Mix all ingredients and the mayo is ready.
