Venetian Risotto

Ingredients:

Shelled and deveined prawns,  1 cup
Rice 1 and 1/4 cup (arborio)
Stock (1/2 cup), stock from the prawn shells is best.
Onion 1/2
Garlic 6 cloves
Olive oil 2 tbsp
Saffron 1/2 tsp
Bay leaf, one
Salt
Black pepper
Butter 2 tbsp.

Method

Soak rice and set aside for 10 minutes. Chop onion and garlic. Heat olive oil in a frying pan and add peeled chopped garlic, onion and bay leaf. Fry till translucent. Add prawn, salt and pepper and fry till the prawn turns translucent. Add the rice and stock and adjust the water. Stir when nearly cooked and add saffron and butter.

Variants: Add 1/2 cup of white wine. Substitute 1 tbsp tomato puree instead of saffron.

Zucchini bread

This is a U.S. recipe arriving to this blog via Ahmedabad and Mumbai. Thanks, Meena, Vasudhaben and Aparna.

Ingredients:

2 cups all purpose flour, 1 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp cinnamon powder, 1 cup oil, 1 cup sugar, 1 cup cream cheese, 3 eggs, 1tsp vanilla essence, 2 cups grated zucchini, 1 cup walnuts.

Sift the flour, baking soda, cinnamon powder, baking powder together and keep aside. Beat the oil, sugar, eggs, cream cheese and vanilla essence. Fold in zucchini, flour and walnuts. Put in baking tray (or two trays) and bake at 180 degrees C for one hour.

Cream cheese substitute: Mix home made paneer with Amul cream.