Cabbage with turmeric

Holy cabbage, batman!!! It's 2012. This blog has been revived again! whoohoo!!

I decided to try out the local CSA box and just my luck, they give me a giant head of lettuce. It's HUGE! There's no way I would ever buy this much cabbage. It's enough to feed a small country.

Coincidentally I had a potluck to get to the following day and decided to make this classic indian style cabbage. It is generally paired with rice and something like this or this to make a complete classic Konkani/Indian meal. Pair with some yoghurt and you are set. Another selling point? Brassica/Cruciferous veggie paired with turmeric = anti-cancer all the waaaaaay!!

Serves 2

Ingredients

Cabbage - chopped or sliced - 2 liberal hand-full [2 cups, maybe?]
Onion- yellow (or other)- chopped fine - 2 tbspn
Black mustard seeds - 1 tspn
Asafoetida - 1 pinch [1/4 tspn]
Green Chillies [serrano or thai]- 1/2 [remove seeds depending on spice tolerance]
Canola or other vegetable oil - 1/2 tbspn
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tspn
Split chick pea / bengal gram [ can find in indian store] (optional) - about 15
Salt to taste
water -1-2 Tbspn

Method

1. Heat up oil in a wok [medium-high]. Add the bengal gram. Saute until it seems a little bit swollen and brown. Add mustard seeds and asafoetida. This will pop all over the place. use a lid to contain them.
2. Once the popping subsides, add in the onion. Saute until translucent.
3. Add chillies and cabbage. On top of cabbage add the turmeric and salt. Toss in the wok.
4. Sprinkle the water on this and then lower the heat to medium low and cover. Let cook for about 5 or so minutes. Uncover and let the water cook out.
5. Cook until completely cooked. I like it to have a little bit of a bite to it but also completely cooked. So keep an eye on it.

Enjoy.

Potato Masala for Masala Dosa

Masala dosas are ridiculously amazing. Dosa is the indian equivalent of crepes (made out of rice). This very delicious and spicy potato and onion mixture is the filling. It is served hot with chutney and sambar. Each place has its take on the masala and this is my mom's. This is the only version *I* love, so that should be good enough for you all.

You can also serve this with Rotis/naans, or basmati rice or even make indian style paninis with it.

Ingredients:

1-2 Boiled potatoes (I used baby small yellow potatoes, red potatoes are too sweet for this dish); chop into cubes
1 small red onion or 1/2 large onion thinly sliced
1.5 tspn black mustard seeds
10 curry leaves (can omit)
1/2 tspn red chilli powder
1/4 tspn turmeric powder
2 pinches of asafoetida (can omit)
1 tspn of Channa dhal (can totally omit) [basically dried and split chickpeas without the seedcoat. TOTALLY not required)
1 tbspn of vegetable oil
1 serrano chilli sliced lengthwise or a couple of jalapenos would work too (can omit entirely)
Salt to taste


Directions

1. In a pan, add the oil and let it heat up. Add mustard seeds, Channa dal, and asafoetida. After about 30 seconds toss in the curry leaves. You should hear a lot of popping and hissing now.

2.Once the popping subsides (don't wait for everything to burn) add in the sliced onions and green chillies. Saute until translucent and cooked. After about 2 minutes of sauteing add the turmeric, red chilli powder, and salt.

3. Once the onion has cooked, add in the rough chopped boiled potatoes and mix and let it cook/heat up. after about 2 minutes your dish should be ready!

optional: garnish with fresh chopped cilantro.

Dhal Fry (Pigeon Pea and Tomato Curry)

Ah, it is good to be back with my yummy dhal recipe and signature crappy picture.

Still stuck with some of those pigeon peas? Here is recipe #5! A staple in any North Indian meal (I think, I really wouldn't know. :-D). It is very mildly spiced and delicious. Try it out!

Ingredients
1/2 cup pigeon pea (toor dhal) - soaked overnight in water (12-14 hours, the longer the better)
3 Tomatoes
3/4 tsp red chilli powder
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp cumin powder
1/4 of an onion, finely chopped (about 2 heaping table spoons worth)
8 cloves of garlic (you could use a few lesser, but I'm obsessed with garlic)
2 tbspn of oil
Salt to taste.
A dollop of butter or ghee (which I did not add, but now that I'm typing this, it definitely would have enhanced the dish)

Directions
1. I use a pressure cooker to cook the dhal, so I'm done cooking it in 15 minutes. Should you not have this wonderful device, you could cook it stove top until really well done. It may take you over an hour.
2. Boil the tomatoes (i just cook these along with the dhal in the same pressure cooker)
3. In a saucepan, heat up some oil on medium high and add the onions. Saute for 2 mins.
4. Add the garlic, and spice powders. Saute until oil separates (or if garlic begins to brown)
5. Add the cooked dhal and tomatoes (semi mashed in) mix well. Add just enough water to make it semi-liquidy.
6. Add salt according to your taste and let it come to a boil. Add the ghee/butter at this point as well.

Serve with naan or roti, basmati rice, and raitha.

Navy Bean and Tomato Soup

I've been craving tomato based stews for a while now. I've made navy bean soup before, but this time, I had some gorgeous tomatoes on hand so I threw those in as well and OH-MAH-LAWD, I love me some tomatoes in this "soup."


Ingredients

1 cup Northern white beans cooked until mash-able consistency or 1 can of same beans
1/2 tbspn of canola/vegetable oil
5 garlic cloves - roughly minced
1-2 Dried Red chilli peppers (thai)
2 tomatoes (I used fresh roma's) boiled until mash-able consistency! remove peel.
Water
salt to taste

Method

1. Semi-mash the tomatoes and add them to the cooked beans. Add water just enough to cover the beans.

2. Add salt and let this come to a boil.

3. On the side heat up and oil and to it add the red pepper and garlic. As soon as the garlic begins to brown add this mixture to the soup.

Serve hot atop white rice. So DELISH.

Note: The pic above was my meal for the day and so pardon the "presentation." I was starving after no breakfast and 1 hour of badminton. I also cooked up some beets and added a nice spoonful of plain persian yoghurt to go with my bowl.

Pigeon Pea Soup version 3

Yep, you have that bag of pigeon pea that you bought and you don't know what to do with it.

Here is version 3 (vers 1 and vers 2)

Ingredients

1/2 cup of pigeon pea, soaked overnight and cooked to a mashable consistency with 1/2 a serrano (can omit the serrano)
2-3 cloves of garlic, roughly minced
1 dried red chilli pepper
1 tbspn veg. oil
salt to taste
a pinch of turmeric

Method

1. Mash the pigeon peas, add salt and turmeric powder and mix.

2. On the side in a pan heat up some oil and add the dried red pepper and garlic and let it cook on high until the garlic browns. Add this hot oil, infused with the essence and spice from garlic and chilli pepper, into the pigeon pea mixture. Mix and let it come to a boil and you're done.

Goes well with basmati rice and yoghurt and bajjes.

Garlic Coconut Chutney

I love chutneys. Hopefully, with the success of this one, I will be making more.

Ingredients

1 large clove of garlic
3/4 cup shredded fresh coconut (if you have frozen fresh grated coconut, thaw it out)
1 Tbspn tamarind paste
Salt to taste
1 tspn red chilli powder
Some water or coconut milk

Method

1. In a food processor or blender, blend all of the above. The amount of water or coconut milk (for a smoother taste) you add depends, and generally you will need to add it so the ingredients can blend. I added about 1/2 cup. You might need more. The chutney shouldn't be liquidy or too dry, so add water/coconut milk with caution.

Serve with warm pita bread.

The chutney lasts well for about 10 days and makes a delicious quick breakfast along with pitas, if you don't mind the garlic breath, i.e.

Pigeon Pea Soup Version 2 aka Varn

I like this version more than the previous one. I could eat this everyday. This is extremely simple to make and has very subtle flavoring. Pair it up with white rice and a spicy side dish, and you're set.

Serves 2 - 3
Ingredients

Pigeon Pea - 3/4 cup (soaked overnight in water)
salt to taste
cumin powder - 2
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tspn-1/2 tspn
ghee (optional; oil or butter is not a substitute in this case) - 1/2 tbspn
water

Method

1. Boil pigeon peas in water until mashable consistency.

2. Mash and add water until desired consistency is reached. I like mine semi-liquidy so I can enjoy it on rice.

3. To this add the turmeric, cumin powder, salt, and ghee. Mix well and bring to a boil on the stove.

4. Serve over hot white rice and that's it!

Seasoned Beans / Beans Upkari

One of my favorite upkaris....nothing against this and this, but beans..mmmm i love me some crunchy beans. I picked up some crunchy tender young beans from Costco the other day and decided to do this.

Serves 2-4

Ingredients

green french beans (that's right, i didnt measure) -2-3 fistfuls (chop to desire length or leave whole)
salt to taste
mustard seeds - 1/2 tspn
Red chilli powder - 1/2 tspn - 1 tspn
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tspn
Vegetable oil - 2 tspn

Method

1. In a wok/pan, heat up the oil (on medium-high) and add the mustard seeds. Wait for this pop around. At that point add the chilli and turmeric powder.

2. Add the beans to this (enjoy nice sizzling sound) and saute until the powders and mustard seeds are coated around the beans. Add salt and saute some more (about 1 minute)

3. Add some water, cover and let it cook for about 5-8 minutes. Cook until desired 'crunch.'

4. Done! Eat as an accompaniment or as is with some pita!

Yellow Pohvu / Seasoned Flattened Rice Flakes

I went to little India in Artesia for (what felt like) the first time with my friend, LV. I picked up two versions of flattened rice : a "thin" one and a "thick" one. I enjoyed the WTH-is-that-look on LV's face and I hope this recipe will clear up some of that look.


Serves 2-3
Ingredients:
thick poha - 2 cups
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tspn
salt to taste
mustard seeds - 1tspn
thai green chilli - 1 sliced roughly
Curry leaves - about 7
Vegetable oil - 1 tbspn or tspn
Dried Red chilli - 1
Shredded Coconut - 1 tbspn

Method

1. Wash the rice flakes with water and squeeze out the excess water and let it dry a bit in a bowl. To this add the coconut, turmeric, and salt. Mix.

2. On the stove in a wok, heat up the oil. Time to temper it!Add the mustard seeds and red chilli and wait for the popping to begin, once this happens, add the curry leaves and green chillies (enjoy the hissing sound). Saute for about 30 or so seconds and then add the poha.

3. stir until the turmeric is evenly distributed and the mustard seeds are spread out evenly. Takes about 3 minutes.

4. Serve Hot!

there are various versions of this: some people add some sugar and finely chopped potatoes. some add onions. some add carrots and peas...I like it simple.

Sweet Pepper Pakoras/ Bajjaes/Fritters

Hmmm hot masala chai and bajjaes at my kuladev temple in Aversa. Hmmm, hot bajjaes alongwith hot rice served with dalithoy....*drool face* Well nothing to it, its a vegetable of your choice (sweet peppers in the picture above) dipped in a savory batter and deep-fried. Often served as an accompaniment or appetizer with or without chutney.

Ingredients

1 cup besan/chick-pea flour
1/2-3/4 cup water (give or take, the batter needs to coat veggies)
1-2 tspn red chilli powder
1/2 tspn turmeric powder
a couple of pinches of asafoetida
salt to taste
1 tbspn corn flour (optional)
Vegetable of your choice: Sweet peppers (onions, cauliflower, eggplant, carrots, squash, sweet potato...anything works, really)
Vegetable oil to deep fry

Method

1. Mix all of the dry ingredients and then slowly add the water in. Too much water, and the coating will fall apart in the hot oil. Mix thoroughly and test out one pepper to see if the batter is seasoned right and if it stays on! If it doesn't add some more besan.

2. Heat oil on medium heat and deep fry coated peppers. Let it brown on both sides and strain on paper towels and serve hot!

Enjoy with a nice cup of masala tea or as is.

Chicken/Paneer Tikka Pizza

Who doesn't enjoy a good pizza? I know; everyone's version of "good" differs. A brief history about my tastes perhaps will help. I used to love pizza hut, little caesars, etc. But around 2005, the visuals of thick layers of cheese and greasy dough just turned me off. But they taste sooo good, you say, and I agree!
Anyway around that time, i cut down my intake. From 2006-2008 I was in grad school and every Friday we had to have lunch with a visiting scholar and guess what was the lunch? that's right, more greasy pizza. Suffice to say, that's when I started cooking for myself and just the aroma of a pizza began turning me off. *sad-face*

So here we are now. I like pizzas again, but not the cheap greasy fast-food kind. I enjoy the weird thin crust versions with eclectic toppings (Welcome to California). But I don't like paying an arm and a leg for these. So I make them myself!

Since apart from putting it together and toasting it in the oven everything else is store bought, my pizzas are a super-quick dinner or snack.

Serves 1

Ingredients

Chicken/Paneer Tikka Masala (I had some leftover from dinner outside) 1-2 tbspn
Marinara Sauce (optional) - 1 tbspn
1 Whole Wheat Pita (can use whatever pita you prefer)
Cheese (I used Gouda and Havarti, because again, those were leftover and tasted much better than normal mozarella. Could mix all three!)
Some italian seasoning - a pinch or so to sprinkle on top of the pizza
Thai chillies (can substitute green pepper): thinly sliced (1 per pita)
Red onion : thinly sliced, less than a 1/4; depends on how much you like on your pizza


Method
1. Set oven to 400 degrees and let bread heat up for about 3 minutes.

2. Spread the marinara and tikka masala (chop up the chicken or paneer) onto the bread. You can go for 50-50 or put more of the tikka than the marinara.

3. top this off of the red onions, green chillies, sprinkle of italian seasoning, and cheeses.

4. put it back in the oven and at 425 degrees let this toast up until the cheese has melted and crust is crispy.

Cut into 4's and enjoy with a salad! Dinner done!

Strawberry and Banana Lassi

It finally feels like summer here in Southern California. I live in Los Angeles on the top most floor facing the North-west (I'm guessing. I'm horrible with directions). But what I do know is that the apartment gets REALLY hot in the late afternoon-evening. And when it's hot, you drink tender coconut water to keep cool and when you don't have access to fresh coconut water, you get tanked on lassis! This is a sweet drink as opposed to the spicy version I posted earlier.

Makes about 3 glasses
Ingredients
1 cup of yoghurt (I always use plain, but I suppose you could use flavored ones)
1/2 Lb of strawberries (give or take) (remove the green bits)
1-1.5 bananas
1/2 cup water
about 8 ice cubes
2-4 tbspn of sugar depending on how sweet or tangy you like your drink.

Method

1. In your blender (ESSENTIAL GADGET FOR THE SUMMER), add the roughly chopped bananas, strawberries, yoghurt, water and blend (chop, puree, liquefy, mix, whatever as long as the fruits disperse into the yoghurt). Then do a taste test. Add sugar accordingly and also put in ice cubes and blend.

Pour into glass and ENJOY!

Desi Fried Egg

I really hate cooking eggs...I don't mind eating them if they are cooked right. I don't like brioche or anything (I don't mind if my bread or whatever doesn't have a shiny glaze, thankyouverymuch) that's too egg-ish. This includes all the horrible ice cream here in America that smell like the yolk of an egg (haagendaaz is the prime example of this ridiculousness). Just wanted to get all of that off my chest. Vegetarian ice cream FTW. I don't eat a lot of sweet stuff though, so I survive without ranting too much.


I took a chance last week when I bought 6 brown eggs from vegetarian hens who were free range. I have to say, the odour (for the clean up anyway) wasn't as strong as after cooking generic white eggs. That's fabulous! After making our tradition egg-white-only-kitchen-sink (garlic, spinach, mushroom, onion, tomato, basil, olives, cheese, whatever else is on hand) omlette, we were down to 2 eggs.

I decided to pan fry 'em up for a late sunday brunch. the recipe that follows was concocted at random by SOMEONE (no one is taking credit for it. I know it's not me or my dad, so it's down to mom or brother) in my family. This is definitely an interesting way to eat an egg. Hope you enjoy!

OH AND IT'S SPICY!

Serves 1
Ingredients:
1 egg
Pinches of: salt, black pepper, cumin powder, coriander powder, red chilli (indian) powder, turmeric powder, and garam masala.
1 tspn vegetable oil

To make a sandwich:
regular bread, some iceberg lettuce, and personally? i slather mine with the green tobasco sauce. Minutes after this meal MY mouth remains lit with a satisfactory fire.

Method:

1. Heat up oil in a nonstick pan (use as little oil as possible, it's only to prevent egg from sticking to the pan) on low heat/medium low.

2. Crack open egg onto the pan and break the yolk to spread it around. (optional. you can leave it as is, if you want. I hate yolks so I either chuck them or spread them out)

3. sprinkle all of the powders onto the surface of the egg.

4. After it seems like it has cooked on the other side and the yolk/yellow part is no longer runny, flip and let it cook some more. Again, I like my eggs severely cooked + it might be required for this recipe so the spice powders infuse into the egg.

5. Serve as a sandwich! I cut mine in Half in the picture above.

Spicy Buttermilk/Lassi

aka Thaak aka Morre. Here is yet another reason why I won't survive as a vegan. If you order a thali or any meal in south India, this is the drink (spicy, I'm sure there are subtle changes) you get with your meal. In the north, you get the sweetened version which is popular in U.S.A.


Serves 2-3

Ingredients:

1 cup plain yoghurt (i used fat-free)
4-6 curry leaves
1tbspn chopped fresh cilantro/coriander
1 dried red chilli
1/2 fresh green chilli - sliced (i used serrano, if you think this is insane heat, just you about 2-3 slices)
Ginger - finely chopped or grated 1/2"
Salt to taste
Black Mustard seeds - 1 tspn
1 tspn vegetable oil
Water 1 cup or more.
Asafoetida optional a pinch

Method:

1. In a blender add the yoghurt and water and blend. Depending on how thin or thick you want your buttermilk, add more water.

2. Add the grated ginger, coriander, green chillies, salt to taste, asafoetida.

3. on the stove in a tiny pan (really tiny; or be innovative and use a regular pan, doesn't matter) add the oil and let it heat up. to this add the mustard seeds and red chilli. When the seeds start popping, add the curry leaves and stand back. after about 10 seconds, add this tempered/flavoured hot oil directly to the blended mix and stir.

Strain and serve (or not). Garnish with coriander leaves.

ps: Sorry about the crap pictures.

Mixed Vegetable Raitha / Yoghurt Salad

I could potentially be vegetarian. But I could never be vegan. I love yoghurt way too much. I grew up on this elixir of MY life. Some white rice slapped with homemade yoghurt and a side of some sort of vegetable and I was set. To this day, it is my comfort food.

There are lots of variations of Raitha. If I'm having Biryani , I pair it with an onion raitha. When I went to India, I discovered a fruit raitha (mostly with pineapple). You could do any version with either one vegetable/fruit, or more than one. Today, I did a mixed vegetable raitha to go with some store bought (trader joes, for the win) garlic naan.

Serves 2-4

Ingredients:
Carrot- finely chopped 1
Roma Tomato - finely chopped 1 (I added the seeds as well)
Fresh Green Chilli- 1/2 (omit this if you can't take the heat. I've been using chillies that I pick up at the local Persian or Indian market. Looks like they aren't as spicy as Serranos or Jalapenos; though I've used serranos too for this recipe and I didn't feel the heat).
Red Onion - finely chopped 1/4-1/2
Cucumber- 3-5" long piece don't add the seeds finely chopped

Cumin - 1/4 tspn (optional)
salt to taste
some water
Plain yoghurt (1/2 cup)- i use non-fat or 98% fat free.

Cilantro/Coriander - finely chopped

Method:

1. Combine all the veggies (including cilantro) in a bowl with salt.

2. Add the yoghurt and some water to make it come to a dressing consistency. Yoghurt in india is very liquidy, so we dont normally add water. But the Yoghurt in America is SO thick!

3. Mix well, taste and add salt if required. Add the cumin powder and mix again. Some people like the flavor of cumin in their raitha and some don't. I would recommend testing it out before you add cumin to the main bowl.

4. Optional: garnish with some red chilli powder for color. Serve cool.

note: You can douse this over some crisp Iceberg and eat it with some naan or pita. so delish!

Spicy Spinach Cake / Pathrodo

Pathrodo. Say that again. brr. Fortunately, this dish is a complete opposite of how it sounds. This is a typical Mangalorean dish. The original dish is made with a specific leaf which is abundantly found in the Southern part of Karnataka. I used to eat this only when I visited with my grandparents and uncle in Mangalore. It was an absolute treat (and still is) whenever I get to eat this when I'm back in India. Anyway my mom, the genius that she is, concocted the same recipe for spinach. It is a little complicated but hey, if I can do it...well, you know how it goes. Oh and it's RIDICULOUSLY DELICIOUS, in a Konkani way.

Prep time: overnight

Serves 2 (minimum; depends how you eat it ;) )

Ingredients

1/2 cup toor dal/yellow pigeon pea (soaked overnight, uncooked)
1 cup rice (basmati works) (also soaked overnight, uncooked)
5 dried red chillies (i'd stick to 2-3 thai dried red chillies; soaked overnight with the above two)
3/4 tspn Asafoetida
1 tbspn tamarind paste
1/4 cup coconut milk (approx. )
1/2 tbspn vegetable oil
1 tspn black mustard seeds
1-1.5 cups of very roughly chopped spinach (i used baby spinach. just tearing a leaf in half is more than enough. Do not add the stems)
Salt to taste.

You need a food processor for this one..a blender might work as well. you need something with a blade. If you're really retro (try getting one of these...haha. that's what some of my family members used when electricity was shut for the entire day).

Method:

1. Soak dal, rice, and red chillies overnight (12 hours) in water in the same bowl.

2. Strain it and let it dry a little bit (I gave it about 20 minutes).

3. In your food processor add the coconut milk and red chillies. Grind.

4. It will be coarsely ground. To this add the dal and rice and grind. Also add the tamarind paste, asafoetida and salt.

5. It should be a semi-liquid with coarse granules of dal and rice. Grind it until you can no longer tell if it's dal or rice, but you can feel the coarseness with your fingers. taste this to see if it's sufficiently salty. it will be really pungent and strong.

6. Add the spinach to the mix. It's not going to coat very well as you can see in the picture, but that's fine.

7. In a pan, add oil and let it heat up. Add the mustard seeds to the hot oil. Let it pop, crackle and sizzle. at this point add the mixture. Stir it around a little bit on medium low heat (2 minutes), just enough to coat it all with the essence of the mustard seeds.

8. Next transfer it to your pressure cooker (without the weight) or steamer and steam it until it is cooked. If it is gooey and sticks to your toothpick when you poke it, let it cook. It took me about 20-30mins to cook it.

9. Let sit for about 10 mins and then serve!!!

10. If you are obsessed with mustard seeds like me, then do this: after you let it sit, cut it up into bite size pieces. In a pan, heat up some oil (1/2 tbspn oil) and add mustard seeds to it. You know the drill, once it starts jumping all over your pan, add the pieces and just pan fry them on both sides. Serve hot!

Note: It is generally eaten as an accompaniment. My brother enjoys them as is. I eat it rice+ yoghurt or rice+ dal soup (next recipe). SO GOOD.

Also this was my first time ever making it. Epic success.

Seasoned Cauliflower / Cauliflower Upkari

Picture here

Ingredients: Serves 2-4

2 cups florets of cauliflower
1.5 tspn Black mustard seeds
1 tspn Vegetable oil
1-2 Dried Red Chilli (thai works, just use one)
Salt to taste 1/2 tsp-1tsp
Some water , say 1/4 cup
OPTIONAL asafoetida (hing) – pinch of a pinch of a pinch!
** refer to this recipe for a variation.

Procedure:
1. In a non-stick pan, add the oil and let it heat up on medium heat. Then add the mustard seeds and red chilli pepper and allow them to pop and crackle all over the place.

2. As the seeds are popping all over your stove, toss in the florets and saute so that it's covered with the mustard seeds. Add salt.

3. Add some water and cover to cook florets. Takes about 3-7 minutes on low medium heat. Once cooked turn off heat and this can be a side dish to a number of Indian dishes like this.


This upkari recipe is different from the earlier one because of the source of the heat; Here it is dried red chillies and there it was fresh green chillies.

Note: Instead of Cauliflower, broccoli, green beans, potato, zucchini, etc. can be substituted for variation.

Atomic Spinach Curry

I know the picture is a bit crap, but this dish isn't. Yet another dish I grew up eating and taking to school for lunch. It's very simple but the flavors are fantastic (Garlic !!) It has some eclectic ingredients but I hope you try it out.


Ingredients: (approximated)

2.5 cups of chopped spinach (I used fresh baby spinach)
1/2 cup of toor dal (aka yellow pigeon pea. the dry and not the oily kind) cooked properly (semi or even completely mashed; soak overnight to speed up cooking process, EVEN if you use a pressure cooker like me)
10 cloves of garlic (I used an entire bulb of garlic ergo 'Atomic')
1/2-1 tbspn vegetable oil (actually, just enough to coat your pan)
1/4 tspn Turmeric
1 tspn Red chilli powder (Indian)
1.5 tspn Coriander powder
1 tspn tamarind paste
1/4 cup coconut milk (optional)
Salt to taste ( I almost screwed up this dish by throwing in too much salt...be careful the tamarind paste will provide a significant amount of tang).


Method:

1. To your pan add the vegetable oil and let it heat up.

2. Add the garlic cloves (I love the sizzling sound when it hits the hot oil) and saute until the garlic cloves take on a brownish hue. DO NOT LET THIS BURN.

3. Add the spinach and saute for about a minute (it will wilt a tad bit).

4. Add the cooked dal (this is going to be a semi-liquid form) and coconut milk. Also add the spices and tamarind paste at this point.

5. Let this simmer and jive for about 5-10mins. then it's DONE!

Serve over hot basmati rice with maybe some yoghurt or raitha.

Atomic Navy Bean Soup - Desi Style

I had such a hard time coming up with a name for this dish in English. This is a Konkani staple. The beans change but the method of preparation is the same. I've tried googling the English names of the beans/lentils that I grew up eating but I wasn't very successful. But that's ok because I haven't seen them in any store here (yes, not even in Little India) except for Mung dal.

The Konkani name is: dhavé (white) Beea (bean/seed) saar upkari or thinglauro saar upkari.

Without further adieu...
Serves 2-3

Ingredients
1 cup of navy beans (I've never tried this out with canned beans...and I won't be trying it out either).
1/2 tbspn vegetable oil
1-2 dried red chillies (Thai chillies will work. break in Half if you dare)
Salt to taste
About 5 whole cloves of garlic, but smashed (Atomic!!)

Method

1. Soak beans overnight in water.

2. Slow cook the beans until done in water (1cup beans to 2 cups of water approx.). I own a pressure cooker and a rice cooker and either of them should work fine. You could also just cook them on the stove at low heat. Make sure there is enough water and add more if it evaporates. Cook it until you can squish it between your thumb and index finger...no al dente nonsense here.

3. Once they are cooked make sure there is enough water to cover it and then some.

4. On the side in a small wok add the oil and let it heat up. To the very hot oil add the red chilli and garlic. It's going to cackle and sizzle and sputter. this is good. Let all the flavors infuse in the oil until garlic turns brown.

5. Then immediately add the hot oil, chilli, and garlic to your beans mix. It's going to make the biggest hissing noise when the oil hits the water, but its sooo much fun! Also dont forget to take some liquid and rinse out the wok with the oil before you throw it into the sink.

6. Stir and add salt.

AND THAT IS IT!!!!

Typically eaten with white rice, some yoghurt, papad and some sort of upkari. This time I paired it with Cauliflower upkari. I'll upload a recipe for that one too. It's a little different from the beetroot recipe that I linked to.

Note: In the pic on the right, I made more than 1 cup worth and added 10 cloves of garlic and a total of 3 red chillies.

Kofta Curry

I'm sure there are ways to improve this one. But the taste was so good the first time I tried it, that I had to post the recipe here. Kofta is aka meatball. So it's a meatball curry! This one is sort of a random recipe i.e. I came up with it myself. Hope you'll give it a try! I know I will...next week. :)


Serves 2-3

Ingredients

Minced Chicken - 1/2 lb
Serrano Chilli peppers - 1/2-1 finely chopped, seeds and all.
Garam Masala - 1 tspn
Salt to taste
Bread Crumbs - 1/2 cup [I toast up regular bread when I can't finish an entire loaf. So I used toasted wheat bread]
Vegetable oil - 2 tbspn
Onion - 1 chopped
Tomatoes - 2 chopped
Red chilli powder (Indian)- 1 tsp
Cumin powder - a little more than 1 tsp
Coriander powder - a little more than 1 tsp
Turmeric powder - literally a pinch.
Fresh coriander/cilantro for garnish and for koftas (optional)
Coconut milk - 1/2 can (about 6-7 fluid oz.)

Part 1: the koftas

In a mixing bowl add the garam masala, bread crumbs, serrano, cilantro, salt, and chicken. Mix throughly and add 1tbspn of oil to keep this moist. Make spheres or ovals and set aside. Let this sit for about 20 mins.

Part 2: the curry

1. In a pan add 1 tbspn oil and let it heat up. To this add the chopped onion and saute until it is translucent.

2. Now add the chopped tomatoes and saute for about 3-4 minutes.

3. In a separate bowl mix the spice powders (cumin, coriander, red chilli) in 1.5 cups of water. Add this to the pan and let it come to a boil.

4. As this is simmering, add the meatballs to it and let it cook for about 10 mins or so.

5. next add the coconut milk and let it simmer/boil for about 10-15mins. Taste this at some point to add salt as required.

6. It was very liquidy so I just let it boil for some 20 or so minutes and finally gave up since it tasted fantastic. Eventually as it cooled, it got a little thicker so that was good, but overall it's still a very liquidy curry. That's why I categorize this recipe as a work-in-progress.

7. Garnish with fresh chopped coriander.

Serve with hot basmati rice and raitha.

NOTE: You can always add more serrano or red chilli powder as it is simmering, so add a little at first and see if you can handle the heat. Serranos can vary in size and heat, so a little may just go a long way.