Sichuan Sweet and Sour Cabbage

 

I love a good head of cabbage. Who doesn't? Ah yes, those who get giant heads of cabbage week after week in their CSA box. Been there, done that. I wish I knew this recipe back then. This is a variation of a dish that I "discovered" in a local Chinese restaurant specializing in Chengdu/Sichuan Cuisine. 

2020: the year where I learned to cook several new cuisines including Chinese. This dish is a work in progress, but here's the last version that got as close as it was going to get. I never measure things, so all of the measurements are guesstimates. Let your eyes, tongue, and nose guide you.

Use a wok if you have one. I don't, but I use a cast iron skillet (10" or 13") for all my stir-frying.

Serves 2-4 (Depends if this is a side dish or main and also on the head of cabbage you have)

Ingredients

Cabbage - 1-2" large pieces, whatever you fancy. About 4-6 cups. Try and separate out each layer. Leave the rib in, the crunch is lovely. 

Garlic - 6 cloves, slices

Red Sichuan peppercorns -1 tbsp (or more)

Dry Red Sichuan Chilli pepper - 1-2 

Neutral oil (I use avocado) - 1 tbspn

Green onions for garnish

Sauce

Soy sauce  - 1/4 cup

Vinegar, distilled or black - 1-3 tbsp (adjust according to taste)

Sugar - 1-4 tsp (adjust according to taste)

Corn starch - 1-2 tsp

Mix the sauce components except corn starch. Once it is to your liking, add the corn starch powder and mix until it's dissolved.

 Method

1. Heat up the pan  on medium high and add oil. Once it's heated, add the sichuan pepper corns. Saute for about 1 minute and remove from the oil. You want the oil flavored but if the peppercorns burn, it turns the whole dish bitter. 

2. In the spiced oil, add garlic and dried red chilli pepper. Saute for 30 seconds and then add the cabbage. 

3. Cook for a 3 mins or so. You want it slightly under done because you still have to cook it for a couple more minutes with the sauce added. Stir the sauce and add to the pan with the cabbage. Keep stirring as the corn starch starts to thicken up the sauce and coat the cabbage. If you need to thin in out, you can add some water at this point. 

4. Once cooked, add scallions at the top and serve with hot jasmine rice.

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.

Pongal

Another quintessential breakfast item of Tamil Nadu. Go to any restaurant for breakfast, and you find this. I am ecstatic that I was able to make this. Delicioso.


Ingredients

Mung/Moong dal - 1 cup
Rice (You can do this with basmasti. I used a variety called "sona masuri') - 1 cup
Mustard seeds - 1 tspn
Cumin seeds - 1 tspn
Curry leaves - 8
Asafoetida (optional)- a pinch
Dried Red Chilli - 1-2
Fresh Green Chilli (Thai) -1-2 slit lengthwise
Cashew nuts - 1/4 cup
Ginger : Sliced about 2-3 thin slices
Water - 2.5-3 cups (to cook the rice and moong dal)
Oil - 1tbspn
Butter - 1/2 tbspn (optional)

Method:

1. Wash the moong dal and rice with water. then drain all of the water and let it dry as much as possible (15-20 min air dry).
2. In a saucepan, put the oil. Let it heat up. To this add the mustard seeds, cumin seeds, asafoetida, dried red chilli, and pepper corns. Let this pop and crackle and then add the curry leaves, ginger, green chilli, and cashews.
3. After about 1 min, add the dried rice and moong dal. Fry it for about 3-4 minutes (you basically want the raw taste to be roasted out).
4. Add water to cover this and to cook it. Add a dash of butter and salt and let it cook (I use my nifty rice cooker at this step).
5. Eat hot with butter melting at the top. Can pair plantains boiled in salt water alongside this or just regular ripe bananas.

Asian Crunchy Salad

Dressing:
Hot and Sweet chilli garlic sauce (1 tbspn )
Sriracha sauce (just a smidgen)
Vinegar (3 tspns or more)
Sugar (2-4 tspns or more!)

* those are vague measurements, so adjust according to taste. the key are white vinegar and sugar.

Salad:
Carrots (grated or julienne)
Lettuce (I used red romaine from my CSA box)
Sugar Snap peas (I substituted snow peas)
Red Cabbage if you have some (i didn't)
Spring onions
tomatoes
Red Onion
Crunchy Noodles (you can get these now at Panda Express)
Grilled Chicken (optional), could also substitute fried/grilled tofu.

Method
In a salad bowl prepare salad dressing according to taste (this will be bright red in color). Layer the veggies on top of this and finish off with the crunchy egg/chinese noodles. Toss just before serving.

SO SO good.

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.

Tangy Gourmet Potatoes

My brother came up with this recipe. We tried it out on beans and broccoli but both of those veggies couldn't hold the marinade too well. We had a bag of potatoes (fingerlings + baby reds + purple potatoes) lying around and well, best thing to do: grill 'em up in the oven.

I didn't measure ANYTHING, here's an estimate

Ingredients

Potatoes
Fresh lime juice - 1 tbspn
extra virgin olive oil - 2 tbspn
italian seasoning (spices like oregano, rosemary, thyme, etc.) - 1 tspn
garlic powder with herbs - 1 tspn
Salt - 1/2 tspn (to taste)
Cumin Powder - 1/2 tspn

Method

1. Preheat oven to 425F.
2. Mix everything but the potatoes.
3. Coat the potatoes with marinade and bake in oven for about 30-40 minutes.

Enjoy with other grilled veggies or as is.

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.

7 Layer Bean Dip

Shout-out to Closet Cooking for this addictive and delicious recipe. LV made it for our latest BBQ/Picnic and not one of us (including LV) could stop shoveling it into our mouths. I decided to make it 2 days later for my brother. Naturally, I ate 1/2 of it. SO SO GOOD. I actually did mine based on LV's description and added a couple more ingredients, and her's was a carbon copy of the one at Closet Cooking.

This should serve 4, but it ended up serving 2 adults one of whom had no self-control.

Ingredients

Refried beans (I used the "vegetarian" "no lard" version) - 1 can
Green chillies- 2-4 or 1/2 Serrano finely chopped or jalapenos.
Black olives - sliced, about 15
Avocados - 1, coarsely chopped
Roma tomatoes (since it's summer, use cherry or grape tomatoes instead, so much better)- 2 finely chopped
Cheddar Cheese - to cover the top, about 1/2 cup-1 cup
Fresh Cilantro - finely chopped for garnish
Scallions - finely chopped 1 bunch
Cumin Powder - 1 tspn
Cayenne/Chilli powder - 1 tspn
Pickled Jalapenos (optional)
salt to taste

Method

1. Heat up the refried beans and add water until dippable consistency is reached. To this add the cumin and cayenne powder. Also add the green chillies to the hot beans and mix everything.

2. Pour the beany mix into serving dish. Top it off with cheddar cheese. Microwave this for about 30seconds for cheese to melt.

3. Next up are the avocados, follow this up with the tomatoes, jalapenos, black olives, cilantro and scallions.

4. Serve warm. Add sour cream to make this a 9 layered bean dip. ;)

Serve with tortilla chips.

Maida-Peetaché Bakri / All-purpose Flour Pancake

My go-to breakfast. Actually a lot of the Konkani breakfast recipes that I will be posting shortly are going to be my go-to recipes soon. I love breakfast. I don't usually eat breakfast except when my mom makes it and that's only if I visit India or if she visits here. Time has come to rectify that, so here is my konkani breakfast recipe #1 : maida (all purpose)peet (flour) bakris (dosa/bread/pancake/whatever; everyone should pick up konkani words anyway).

Makes about 4 bakris
Ingredients
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup water (give or take, the batter should be fluid but not liquidy)
10 torn up Curry leaves
1 Serrano or about 3 thai chillies (fresh green chillies) roughly chopped
1/2 cup of fresh shredded coconut (can find this frozen in Indian stores)
1/2 tspn salt
1 tspn sugar (give or take)
Vegetable oil to cook the batter in a pan.


Method

1. Mix the flour and water until there are absolutely no lumps. To this add the salt, sugar, curry leaves, shredded coconut, and green chillies.

2. The batter should be relatively thick but not too thick that it doesn't fall off a spoon.

3. In a non-stick pan, add some oil and let it heat up at medium-low heat. then using your hand or a ladle, ladle out some of the batter and slowly spread it around until its about the same thickness all over.. a little thinner than a pancake. I just used my hands to spread out the batter.

4. Cover it and let it cook for about 5-8 minutes. then uncover, the top should be as in the picture. Turn the heat up just a little and let it brown up on the other side. Flip and let the cooked side brown up.

5. Serve with some butter! that's how I like it, but you could use any leftover curry or eat as it!

Pigeon Pea/Lentil Soup version 1 aka Dali Thoy

Another konkani staple, in my opinion. There are different ways to make this soup so if you end up buying a pound of Pigeon peas to try this one out, don't worry!

note: Pigeon peas look like split yellow peas, but they are not the same. Make sure you buy the right lentil.

Serves: 1-2
Ingredients:

Pigeon Pea - 1/2 cup, soaked in water overnight
Mustard seeds - 1 tspn
Dried Red Chilli - 1
Vegetable Oil- 1 tspn
Curry leaves - about 5
Asafoetida - 1/4 tspn (literally a pinch) (optional)
Coriander (fresh) leaves- for garnish (optional; I didn't have any when I made it this time)
Salt to taste

Method:

1. Cook the lentils until well done. I use a pressure cooker, but you could just slow cook it for hours (I'm overestimating!). This is why soaking it overnight will help a ton.

2. If possible, mash the lentils when they are well done. Add water to desired consitency. I like mine liquidy. My brother prefers his thick. So add water accordingly. Add salt. Let it slowly simmer on low heat.

3. On the side in a small wok (teeny tiny wok, can also use a pan. you just want to really season the oil) heat up the oil. To this add the mustard seeds and dried red chilli (if u dare, cut this in half, I don't reccommend this) and wait for the seeds to pop all over the place. At this point add the asafoetida and curry leaves. I would recommend adding the leaves and getting your hand out of the way. Sometimes the hot oil that's splashing hits the open flame and little bursts of fire can happen. dont panic and don't worry, just stand back.

4. Before everything burns, add this very hot delicious spicy oil to the simmering lentil solution. Its going to sputter and crackle and hiss, but that's good.

5. DONE! Serve hot over freshly cooked basmati rice and some upkari or pathrodo, and yoghurt.


Note: You could use those yellow split peas or split green peas (dried) and try this out. My dad said it was a great substitute for lentils when he couldn't find lentils.

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.

Stir-fried Vegetables with Tofu

I'm in love with Tofu. Ever since I used it for my sukiyaki recipe, I've been a fan. I need to experiment with the different forms (soft, firm, extra firm, etc.) So far I've only cooked with broiled/grilled tofu.

This is a very simple recipe and no measurements required, imo. But I've guesstimated what I did.

Ingredients: Serves 1-2

Broiled Tofu - 1/2 a block. so about 10-12 cut pieces.
Carrots - 1/2 cup-1 cup
Broccoli - 1/2 cup-1 cup
Zucchini - 1
Cellery - same amount as carrots
Onions (I used yellow) - 1/2
Garlic - 1 clove
Dried red pepper/chilli - 2
Vegetable oil - 1-2tbspn
Soy Sauce - 1-2tbspn
Corn Starch - 1/2 tspn mixed in 2tbspn of water
All purpose flour - just enough to coat the tofu.


Method:

1. Coat the tofu pieces with flour and cook them up in an oiled pan until it's brownish on both sides.

2. In same pan, add 1/2 tbspn oil and let it heat up. to this add the garlic and the 2 dried red peppers. Let if crackle and pop to release all of their essence into the oil.

3. Add all the veggies and toss around for about 3-4 minutes on the medium to high heat. Your veggies might start getting brown which isn't good. Add a tbspn of water after about 2 minutes to keep this from happening.

4. Next, add about 1tbsp-2tbspn of soy sauce (first add 1 and then taste. you can always add more later). Toss around.

5. Add the corn starch water and mix thoroughly. The "sauce" will start to thicken. Add the cooked tofu and gently toss so everything is coated with sauce.

6. Serve with rice.

Suggestions: Add more vegetables that you like: asparagus, cauliflower, green beans, peas, scallions, spinach, mushrooms, snow peas, etc. You get the drift.
It probably will be just as tasty if you skip cooking the tofu before hand. I just like the taste better this way.
Lastly you also could avoid the corn starch step, if you're ok with a soy saucy dryish dish. You could just add water to have some sort of a sauce to go with the rice. I've done it both ways.

Sukiyaki

Sukiyaki
I’m very picky when it comes to food; I’m extra sensitive to foul odors and staleness. That being said, this Japanese restaurant in Costa Mesa “I love Sushi” had a great thing going for it when it came to my patronage. That is, until the entire service staff got horrible. The food remained great but it was painful to go there and sadly I haven’t gone back since 2006. I crave the food there every now and then, but the horrifically pathetic service has successfully kept me away.

In my quest to find a good replacement for this restaurant, I went to several restaurants. I think I need to come clean right now before the comments are flooded with sushi suggestions: I don’t eat sushi at all. If my food smells like the ocean (seaweed), I’m outta there. On the contrary, I should try sashimi and I do enjoy the seaweed in Miso soup. Sue me. Now back to this elaborate rambling that I’ve somehow gotten myself into…yes. Anyway, I haven’t found a replacement restaurant in terms of taste and I’m sad about that but I finally took matters into my own hands and tried making dish #1 : Chicken Sukiyaki.

Here is the recipe (guesstimated), adjust condiments according to your taste.

Ingredients for the broth:
1.5 cups Chicken Stock ( I used a pinch of Bouillion cube which had salt in it).
6 Tablespoons Japanese Soy Sauce (I used Kikkoman)
5 Tablespoons Mirin (sweet rice wine type thing. Sugar is NOT a good enough substitute)
6 teaspoons sugar
5 Tablespoons Sake (mmm after eating a big bowl of this, I was passed out for a good 2 hours)


Other Ingredients all of which can be got at a Japanese Store :
Glass Noodles – made out of potato starch [Shirataki] 4-8 oz.
Napa cabbage
Snow Peas
Shitake Mushroom (I hate these Fungi but it’s always added)
White/button Mushroom
Spinach
Onions
Bean Sprouts
Scallions
Zucchini
Broccoli
Grilled Tofu [Yaki-Dofu]
Thin Slices of chicken (marinate thin slices of breast meat in mirin, soy sauce, sugar and ginger for about 1.5 hours)
Vegetable oil- about 2 tbspns


Method:
1. In a saucepan, add the broth ingredients sequentially in the order listed above. Let it heat up at each step and taste. Adjust quantity of sugar etc. according to taste.
2. In a separate pot, add some vegetable oil, just enough to coat the bottom. To this add the chicken and cook it until semi-done.
3. Toss in the Tofu, veggies, and noodles (can cook noodles before hand or it will cook in the broth) and let it gel for about a minute and then add the prepared sukiyaki broth.
4. Let all the ingredients simmer and veggies cook—takes about 10-15mins (also ensure chicken is now cooked).
5. Serve over sticky Japanese rice!
6. Also if you know how to make tempura, topping your bowl with sweet potato or pumpkin tempura = FOR THE WIN!


Sidenotes:
You can make a vegan/vegetarian version by omitting the chicken and chicken stock. I made a vegan version and it was freaking delicious.