Amita Nene's Yummy Expressions
Spanish Paella
This
time of the year has brought back lovely memories from last year, when I toured
Spain with my BFFs (Best Female Friends!) It was the “ME” time for each of us
and also our “US” time. And we connected with one another on a very special
level all over again to celebrate 25 years of our friendship.
Each
moment we spent together is still fresh in each of our memories and that week
and half will remain close to our hearts forever. Amongst all those ‘out of the
box’ activities that we treated ourselves to, some of them are very dear to my
heart.
The
lazy bicycle tour through the quaint cobbled lanes of Barcelona admiring the
most amazing architectural wonders of Gaudi, the relaxing evening at a tiny
café serving unbelievably drool worthy tapas
and the most refreshing Sangria and
an enjoyable afternoon spent at the Spanish Cuisine class with a melange of
co-students from across the world.
My
first time cooking with quail eggs, clams, mussels, octopus, squids et al !!
Back home, my non-vegetarian culinary skills as well as appetite had never gone
beyond chicken and prawns, and this experience cooking and tasting was
absolutely fascinating…
So,
with Paella de Marisco or the authentic seafood Paella my taste buds had their
first tryst with mussels n squids and yes!!.... after some initial inhibition,
even the octopus!
Back
home however, friends and family are surely not so adventurous and hence, when
some subtle and many not so subtle mandates for serving a Spanish meal were
directed at me, I had to quickly think of a way to make a slightly conservative
version of the delightful Paella de Marisco.
So
out went the clams and octopus and the likes, and chicken took its place. Fish
broth out, chicken stock in. I also knocked out the artichokes and asparagus
and substituted our very own Indian veggies.
Traditional Paella also uses chorizo sausages, I completely did away
with them.
And
voila… I had customised the ingredients for the Indian palate..
For
the Chicken and Veggies Paella for 6-8 people, we need..
500gm
boneless chicken chunks
400g
of assorted veggies (I used broccoli, zucchini, babycorn, green, red and yellow
peppers)
2
tomatoes grated
1
onion diced
6
tablespoons Olive oil
8-10
threads of saffron
5
cups of chicken stock
2
cups of Risotto Rice or any Non fragrant long grain rice
½
cup dry white wine
Salt
and paprika to taste
To
start with, shallow fry chicken chunks in 2 tablespoons oil till brown and par
cooked and keep aside.
Take
4 tablespoons of hot water and soak the saffron threads.
In
a wide flat pan or vessel, heat rest of the oil, add onion, garlic, paprika,
salt and tomatoes. Stir fry till the mixture gets dry. Add the rice and stir
fry for few minutes. Stir in heated Chicken stock and the wine along with the
saffron water and threads. Add the
chicken and veggies at this juncture and simmer uncovered on low flame, till
the rice is cooked al dente. The wine
evaporates in the boiling process, leaving the essence which is so very
characteristic to Paella.
If
you are serving Paella to children and don’t want to use the wine, it can be
substituted with the juice of half a lemon.
If
you want a veggie version, substitute the chicken with white beans and French
beans; and the chicken stock with veggie stock.
Having
served Paella and more, to lots of family and friends…..even firangi friends
over the last one year; I can safely say I have got accustomed to having my
Spanish culinary skills complimented. I
am so glad that Paella can be customised to suit ones palate in amazingly
different ways and yet its virtue retained.
Go
try out your very own version of Paella, I am sure it will be as pleasurable an
endeavour for you as it has been for me.
Adios
Amigos! La Vida Buena!
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