Akbar Turns Biker Bar

Akbar, who was 13 when he took the Mughal throne in Deli, was a patron of the arts including paintings (especially murals) and literature. My friend Jeff and I took an adventure to a place bearing Akbar's name at lunch time today. This was a scene in the making for a Larry David Curb Your Enthusiasm episode. The wait staff more resembled a collection of biker bar rejects than one you would expect in a restaurant in a more tony area of town. When ordering a chicken dish I asked the waitress if the chicken was chicken breast and she asked me what I asking about her breasts. When we tried to explore what types of breads they offered, since they were not listed on the menu, she inquired why we were asking about her breasts? Maybe an LA thing? Or maybe they hired wait staff with the worst possible hearing in the world? Odd to say the least. The food was not particularly memorable although Jeff ordered a lamb vindaloo that looked OK.

I have been experimenting with an Indian omelette that is moving in the right direction: two eggs, a pinch of garam masala, a pinch of cumin, a pinch of red pepper, a pinch of cardamon, a russet potato mashed in, and some pecorino romano to top. We've included a picture below and one thing I must do before this adventure is out is improve my photography skills. A close second is learning to speak Indian biker bar lingo because apparently I missed the conversation or joke at lunch.

Red Lentil Recollections

I love lentils.  There, I said it.  I have always loved lentils.  My mother made the best lentil soup.  But all my life (well, until I was 26), I thought lentils came in only one color - brown; and that lentil soup was strictly vegetarian.  What a shock when I was having dinner at a friend's house and they served lentil soup ... with little hot dogs in it!  I was apoplectic.  It couldn't be...no, not my lentils, being defiled in that way.  A more pleasant discovery, however, was that lentils came in a new and exciting color: RED.  My first grown up cookbook was Vegetarian Pleasures, by Jeanne Lemlin.  I still can turn to the exact page for my favorite recipes in that book without looking them up in the index, that is how much I used that book.  VP introduced me to red lentils.  At that time, red lentils were not so easy to come by; definitely not to be found in the supermarket.  Fortunately, I had access to wonderful varieties of foods in Philadelphia and South Jersey.  I think I found the red lentils either at the Reading Terminal Market or at Healthworks, a little health food store in Collingswood, N.J.  I tried them in a great recipe for dal and I was hooked.  They tasted a bit more peppery than the brown supermarket lentils, cooked quickly (a plus for a working gal), and, well, they were red.  Pink, really, but exotic and alluring.   Much later, I discovered mung beans, but even then, I thought of them as things to be sprouted, not cooked.  With this project, I have been exposed to such a variety of lentils such as I never imagined.  The Indian grocers are lined with row upon row of lentils, split, skinned, whole, ground into flour.  I have so far been using split mung, toovar (or toor), and urad.  There are others that I have yet to try.  I still love brown lentils (as you may have read in earlier posts, I use them in dosas).  I also love all of the other lentils and their cousins, the split peas, and chick peas, and azuki, and ...

Here is my mom's recipe for lentil soup, with a couple of optional additions.

MJ's Lentil Soup

1 cup of brown lentils, rinsed and picked over.
4-5 cups of water
one medium brown onion, chopped
2-3 celery ribs, chopped
1T salt or to taste
a good grind or two of black pepper
1/2 cup chopped fennel bulb (optional)
1T dried dill weed (optional)
1T crushed fennel seed (optional)
(1 or 2 medium tomatoes, peeled and chopped) optional
three or four leaves of swiss chard, chopped (optional)
lemon wedges and pecorino romano or parmesean cheese to serve

Put the lentils, water, onion, celery, salt and pepper in a stock pot (along with whatever mix of optional items you like) and bring to a boil.  Lower the heat to low and slowly simmer for about an hour or more until the lentils are falling apart.  If you like an even creamier texture, puree one or two cups of the soup and then stir it back into the pot.
You can serve it plain, but my mom served it mixed with cooked vermicelli cut up into one inch pieces, or with rice.  Squeeze the lemon into the soup and sprinkle the cheese on top.  Still my number one meal.


Red Lentil Dal
from Vegetarian Pleasures

1 1/4 cups red lentils
3 cups water
1/2 t salt
2 T Ghee or oil
1/4 t black mustard seeds
1/4 t turmeric
1/4 t cayenne pepper
1/4 t ground cumin
1/4 t ground coriander
1/2 t minced gingerroot

Rinse and pick over the lentil and cook in the water for about 25 minutes until soft and smooth.  Heat the ghee or oil in a pan and add the mustard seeds.  cook until the seeds start to pop and then add the remaining spices and ginger and cook two more minutes.  Add to the cooked dal and stir in.
My note: This makes a fairly thick mixture.  You can cook the dal with one extra cup of water for a thinner consistency.

This is my Go To dal for a quick and easy treat.  Nice to add cooked vegetables (such as squash, carrots, radishes, greens, etc., to it as well for a well-rounded meal.

Well Shut My Mouth and Call Me Paniyaram

 Here are the results of our corn-sesame paniyaram/idli batter.  The batter did not quite ferment as I had hoped.  I think it was a bit dry and so just didn't have the oomph to rise.  Also, maybe needed more heat and time.  Anyway, I cheated a bit this morning and added a half teaspoon of baking powder to make sure they wouldn't turn out like hockey pucks.  They actually turned out pretty good.  A nice breakfast. Michael likes HushPuppies and Corn Bread.  So these were the Indian version of that.  The paniyaram do have a fritter-like feel to them.  They are not deep fried, but are cooked in just a bit of butter to give them a nice browning on the outside and to keep them from sticking.  I am still trying to figure how to turn them over.  You can see the one next to the handle did not quite make it all the way back into its little cup.  I am using a spoon and chopsticks and fingers to try to get them flipped.  I'll get it eventually.  As for the idli, they were a bit dense (really did need to get a better fermentation going) but still tasty.  We put in corn kernels and hot pepper flakes (a bit of a deviation from the recipe) and they had a nice Southern feel with Indian overtones. Michael ate them with maple syrup.  I ate mine with, get this, a sweet adzuki bean paste chutney.  I'll post about that another time.  Here is the recipe as we made it.

Corn-Sesame Idli/Paniyaram
adapted from Lord Krishna's Cuisine
1/4 cup semolina
1/4 cup Cream of Rice or Idli Rava
1/3 cup corn meal
2/3 cup urad flour
1 cup yoghurt or buttermilk
1 and 1/2 t salt
water to make a smooth batter like cake batter
1-2T sesame oil
1t cumin seeds
1t mustard seeds
1t or more if you like it spicy crushed red pepper flakes
3T sesame seeds
1T sugar
1/2 - 3/4 cup of corn kernels (fresh or thawed if frozen)
1/4 cup of minced red bell pepper
(1/2 t baking powder if you are feeling insecure or your batter didn't rise as it should)

Toast the semolina in a pan until it starts to darken a few shades.  Let cool and mix with the remaining grains in a large bowl.  Add the yoghurt or buttermilk, salt, and enough water to make a smooth batter, like half-whipped cream or cake batter.  Cover and set in a warm place to ferment.  This can take as little as 12 hours or up to 36.  To speed things along, heat you oven to 180F and the turn it off.  Place the bowl in the oven and let it ferment in there.
When it has fermented, it well have almost doubled in bulk and will have cracks on the top and hopefully some bubbles.  Heat the oil in a pan and fry the cumin and mustard seeds until the mustard seeds start to pop.  Add in the crushed pepper and fry for 15 seconds and then add in the sesame seeds and sugar.  Cook until the seeds start to darken.  Let cool a few minutes and stir gently into the batter.  Stir in the corn kernels and/or the minced bell peppers.
Meanwhile heat up your paniyaram pan and when hot, place small dabs of butter or ghee in each cup.  Use a pastry brush to spread the butter around the cup and onto the rim to prevent sticking (I am using a cast iron pan, but they do sell non-stick).  Place a generous Tablespoon of batter in each cup and turn the heat to moderate/low.  Needs to be on the low side so the inside cooks while the outside gets lightly browned.  When the tops are dry, carefully turn them over.  Cook for a few more minutes til browned.
For idli, use the same batter, but put them in your idli stand and steam for 15 minutes.

Dedication is Driving Around A Culver City Rave

On our quest for vegetarian Indian food last night we ventured to Culver City. We drove around for about 20 minutes trying to find the restaurant and in the process passed by scores of teens and early twenty-somethings that looked like they had emerged from a Rave. People standing all over and in the middle of busy streets, no shoes, talking on phones, trying to flag down cars... It had the making for our own version of the Tina Fey & Steve C film "Date Night." When we finally found the place judgment said it was probably best to go there for a lunch than hang out with Seus Hat wearing acid dripping crowd.

On we went to our local standby Kate Mantilini; where the only thing Indian on the menu was arguably a pale ale which Lisa ordered. My tasting notes are:

West Coast India Pale Ale. The key aromas are of fruit - a piney grapefruit, coupled with a malt undertone. These also come through in the taste which has a sweet crystal malt feel. The mouth-feel is astringent on the palate and thick - not quite like pancake syrup but heavy none the less.

While all this was going on we had a batter for corn idli fermenting on our kitchen counter for cooking today (which Lisa is doing as we speak). We're also going to try and make fritters out of them. The key ingredient included yogurt, semolina, corn meal, idli rava, and urad flour.

I'm sure these will make for a wonderful Sunday breakfast.

Pictures & Post to Follow :)

Michael

Tandoori Chicken, Neru, Nixon, Primavera, Salama

A gracious thank you to our friends who have forwarded on many pleasant tandoori chicken recipes over the past couple of months. After shabbat services tonight we enjoyed a quick Indian meal. The centerpiece of my dinner was a tandoori chicken; which after our experience last Sunday in Artesia and Lisa's work this week in the kitchen has me feeling a bit empty since I've learned this dish is a relatively new invention and not too traditional.

Like many well known Indian dishes in the states this one originated with Kundan Lal Gurjal who started Moti Mahal in Peshawer (G. Ramsey takes a trip there in his Great escape to the new location which I believe is in Daryaganji). Tandoori chicken is nothing but chicken cooked in bell-shaped earthen ware ovens generally used to cook bread (fired by wood or charcoal). This dish is reported to be a favourite of Neru's (the first prime minister of India) and I have read Nixon as well. So, that may be the only connection we have to Neru and Nixon. Many folks without a tandoori oven looking for a comparable cooking experience use a very large stock pot and heat it on a grill or fire pit. I have also read of folks using outdoor pizza ovens to make the chicken.

On Saturday Lisa and I will be going to vegetarian restaurant in Culver City which we hear is amazing. More to come then.

Cheers and Chicken.

Idli Idylls

As I mentioned in my last post, I purchased an idli stand during our trip to Artesia.  The photos are actual idlis (is that the right pluralization, I wonder?) made in my very own kitchen.  A vast improvement over the first ones I made in cupcake papers.  The right equipment makes all the difference.  The batter is easy to make.  I made the first batch using a plain urad dal and basmati rice batter.  Just put a bit of shredded carrot and some sliced cashews on top for interest.  Not bad. I made a second batch and added some mustard seeds and ajwain seeds, yoghurt, and a bit of black salt (I'll do a post on the black salt next week).  Much more interesting.  What I really need is some hing (asafetida) to round out the taste.   I had asafetida in my spice cabinet for years without doing much with it.  I threw it out last year because I thought I would never use it; guaranteeing that I would want to use it a year later.  Now, you would think that these beautiful idli would have been gobbled up at once.  Not so. My son, who ate the idli at Udupi Palace, contends that he actually likes the ones I made in the cupcake papers better.  No one else has tried them yet.  Except for me, of course.  For breakfast...with chutney.  They do seem to reheat pretty well, although fresh is best.  

Simple Idli and Variations

Adapted from Lord Krishna's Cuisine

1cup basmati rice

1/2 cup urad dal (without skins)

1/2 t salt

water to process

Rinse the rice and dal and soak overnight in water.  Drain and put into blender with the salt.  Blend with just enough water to make a grainy paste.  This takes patience and scraping down the blender often.  Texture should be like partially whipped cream.  Place mixture into a bowl and place in a warm place to ferment.  Let it ferment for 12-36 hours, depending on temperature, until it is doubled in bulk, crackly on top and has some bubbles.  Spoon into lightly oiled non-stick idli stand.  Heat about an inch and a half of water in a dutch oven large enough to hold the idli stand.  When the water is boiling, place the filled idli stand in the pot and cover with a dishcloth and then the lid.  Let steam for 20 minutes.

Variations

1. sprinkle with shredded veggies and sliced nuts on top and bottom before steaming.

2.  Dry roast your favorite spice seeds and add to batter.

3.  Add yoghurt and dry roasted seeds to batter.

4.  dot the top with a bit of chutney.

 

I wish I could make these at home

"I wish I could make these at home. "  That was my constant refrain when we used to eat at Natraj down in Laguna Hills.  Dinner there always started with papadams, chutney, and pickles.  Like bread, caponata, and olive oil at an Italian restaurant, they would be offered as a snack while waiting for your order.  They are so interesting.  Crunchy, spicy, ultra thin, and a perfect vehicle for getting the chutney into your mouth.  Wash them down with a cold ale and, ahh.  But how could I eat these at home, I wondered.  Well, now I finally know.  Thanks to the internet (naturally), this project, and my local Indian grocer.  I saw lots of packages of flat, light brown, discs on a rack at the grocer.  I didn't exactly know what they were, but closer inspection showed that they were labled, "Papad."  "OK, these must be papadams." I thought.  So I bought a pack.  I opened them up in the car and tasted one.  YUCK.  Not the transcendent experience I was hoping for.  When I got home, I fired up the computer and Googled papadams and ended up at Show Me the Curry (link at left).  I love those gals.  They demonstrated how to roast the papadam on the stove top.  I tried it and, HOORAY, a crunchy delight just like in a restaurant.  We have been eating them every day since then.  Low cal, fat free, high protein; what more can you ask?

Apparently, you can do other things with them, like make a curry, or sprinkle onion, peppers, and spices on top, kind of like a tostada ...  Hmm, papadam nachos seem to be inevitable at this point.   Why not make a very thick red lentil dal, spread that on a papadam, crumble on some paneer, tomatoes, and peppers and give it a quick few seconds in the microwave or put it under a broiler?  OK, I think I have my project for tomorrow.

Popping Papadums

Well before this project started I remember occasionally buying bagged and flavoured mini-papadums from the shelves at Whole Foods (masala I think was the best). For some reason they stopped carrying them. Baji's used to be the go-to brand here; and, in the UK you can find a number of brand, including Sensations.

We've rediscovered them as part of this project. Once you try the real thing you will want to forgo the type bagged like chips for something more authentic, less sodium packed, and more tasty, unless you are buying them for Superbowl Sunday instead of Doritos.

And the papadum is? The papadum which also goes by the name papad in Northern Indian is a thin and crispy round bread, often made of rice, chickpeas and other grains. If you are on a gluten-free diet these are for you. The papad is generally served with chutneys or other dips. Below is a picture of one being heated over the stove top for a snack tonight.

Lisa, will be able to give more details on the experience so kindly read her post for more.

Welcome to Paneer Avenue

Pioneer Avenue in Artesia, CA might as well be named Paneer avenue. This was the most fantastic Indian experience of our adventures yet. The green chili pepper samosa Lisa describes is pictured to the right. Talk about a burn that stays with you. 5 hours and the memory of this dish is still emblazoned in my mind. The coating was pleasant, nicely spiced and not oily at all. The peppers held their heat and were crispy - they actually snap when you bite into them; how these guys do it is a mystery. One can find any of the freshest ingredients, grains, spices, etc. to prepare an authentic regional fare. Our Son is pictured with his fresh coconut find. Sadly we did not meet the specs for the local PBS casting call notices posted near the spice and candy shops we visited upon (they are also pictured). We are thoroughly energized for a sound week of cooking and writing.

L'Chaim (to life)

Michael

Love-in-a-Mist

Love-in-a-Mist.  What a romantic name for a flower.  The purple on is what is called Love-in-a-Mist.  Nigella damascena is the botanical name.  The white one is Nigella sativa (sativa, meaning "cultivated").  Nigella sativa is the plant that gives us the delightful little seeds called Kalonji.  If you want to be prosaic about it, call them: Nigella Seeds.  I have been working with Kalonji this week, because I wanted to discover a bit more about the taste and properties of this seed.  I used it in a simple roti, just cooked the kalonji in a bit of oil and added it to a plain wheat roti dough.  That simple addition gave a wonderful rich oily taste with a bit of pungency.  It also adds a visual dimension to the bread (or whatever you put it in): tiny black spheres dotting the dish like a negative of the night sky.  OK, that was a bit weird, but, hey, it's my blog.  

We took the kids on an adventure today.  We went to "Little India" on Pioneer Avenue and 183rd St in Artesia.  We only went to a few shops, but it was like a mini vacation.  We will blog more about it in the coming days.  We ate at Udupi Palace, a south indian vegetarian restaurant.  The atmosphere was casual and the food was, I don't use this word very often, amazing.  We had two types of idli, samosas, a huge puri with chickpea curry, and a chili pepper samosa that was so hot I could only take a few bites.  Michael managed to eat two pieces.  I also bought an idli stand so that I can now try to make my own idli.  Now that I know what good idli are like, the bar has been raised quite a bit on our little project.  I figure I have another 10 months to try and master idli, paniyaram, roti, and all the other fabulous foods.

Mommy's Fried Chicken & Cutting the Mustard

So, as my better half tells me, "pretty much everything has mustard seeds in it." Although, "not really." There are an abundance of Indian dishes that rely on mustard seeds. When I think of mustard I generally consider a grainy US deli variety, the horseraddishy English type, and french stone ground mustard.

But, mustard for me also brings to mind the saying "cut the mustard." Solly and I have written a song about cutting the mustard, that basically contains numerous questions about whether "you can cut it, cut the mustard, ... people all over the world want to know can you, can you cut the mustard" which annoys Lisa to no end.
There are two common explanations for the origin of this phrase. One is that cutting mustard seeds or the plant is difficult (the seeds are tiny - the plants dense). Another is that it is not "mustard" but "muster." Cutting the muster meaning to break with rank, order, or military protocol.

Know one really knows the answer to this and the venerable OED (Oxford English Dictionary) offers no solid answers.

Dinner tonight was a "mommy chicken" with Nathan's deli mustard. The chicken is dredged in flour, dipped in egg, then coated with panko breadcrumbs mixed with Bragg Organic Sprinkle. The chicken spayed on each side with Olive oil and is then baked at 350 degrees for 10 minutes on each side. This is delightful and healthy fried chicken that can be seasoned with Indian spices as desired, a bit of cardamon and hot red pepper really would add a kick to it.

Fusion Foods and Food Musings

I have been enjoying my Indian food journey so far.  Of course, I still like to eat other kinds of foods, like spaghetti, and a japanese rice porridge, known as okayu.

So, I was craving a hot porridge a few days ago and wanted to eat okayu (which I would normally make with rice, tofu, miso, umeboshi paste, and cabbage and spinach).  I decided to try to make it Indian style.  I heated some oil in my saucepan and threw in my favorite spices (cumin, mustard seeds, nigella, and fenugreek).  After tempering them a couple of minutes in went my rice, tofu, spinach and water and salt.  Cook for 30-45 minutes til the rice is nearly dissolved.  Not surprisingly, this turned out great.  (cooked it again today).  Nice and warming and easy to digest for breakfast.

Two days ago, my son wanted angel hair pasta with tomato sauce.   Dutifully I made that.  It looked good so I decided to have that for my dinner as well.  Normally, I would put red pepper and romano cheese over such a dish.  This time, I got a bit crazy, and, ... if you are a total food purist or feel strongly about eating spaghetti a certain kind of way, don't read any farther.  I poured on some of the spicy lemon vinaigrette that I usually have in the fridge.  Guess what?  It was terrific.  I can imagine morphing that into a tangy fresh tomato lemon basil chutney.  Too bad my cherry tomatoes are about done in the garden (too cold at night to set fruit now).  Guess I'll have to spring for a tomato at the farmers' market.


I hear that one of our readers has tried the Curried Cabbage Bubble and Squeak Style from my last post.  She says it turned out great.  After I wrote that post, I was leafing through, wouldn't you know it, Lord Krishna's Cuisine, and it turns out that there is a dish called Charchari that results in a browned bottom similar to Bubble and Squeak.  The veggies are wet cooked first and then the heat is kept on until the liquid evaporates and the bottom gets charred.  Then the charred part is stirred into the rest and people probably fight to get the yummy browned bits.

So what is the moral of our story?  Fusion works.

Okayu

1/4 cup sushi rice (or any short grain rice)
1/2 cake of tofu
2 cups water
about 2 cups of finely shredded spinach and napa cabbage (your choice of one or both)

for Japanese version
1T of a light miso
1T umeboshi paste
Freshly grated ginger to taste
Lemon juice to taste

for Indian version
1T oil
1T each nigella seeds, fennel seeds, mustard seeds
freshly grated ginger to taste

For Japanese version place all ingredients in a pot, except the ginger and lemon juice.  Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to low and cook for about 30-45 minutes until the rice is completely soft and almost disintegrated.  Garnish with ginger and lemon.  Can use some soy sauce as well.

For Indian version, temper the seeds in oil for a minute until they darken, then add rice, tofu, water and greens.  Cook as above and garnish with ginger.

Too Many Teas to Please?

We did some take and carry from a place tonight called Holly Cow. Such a delightful name. My only problems with the name are: (1) the the place was not vegetarian - which one might otherwise infer - and (2) that I did not think of the name first. We didn't do enough of a taste to do a formal review. The name was so enticing though that at 7:50 p.m. I felt compelled to pull into their lot to try it out. More on them to follow.

The other picture to the right is only part of the tea isle at the Gelson's in Studio City, CA. Gelson's is a higher-end market and this local caters to a lot of industry (film) types. I tried to take a picture capturing the entire display but would have needed a professional fish-eye lens to do it.

As we talked about in a prior post, Indian teas are often custom blends. These blends are known as Masala Chai. They typically have a black tea base. One brand I particularly enjoy when we don't make our own these days is Tazo's Decaf Vanila Chai. The spices include cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, chicory, cloves, black pepper, and star anise. As with most things in life these days other-worldly mysteries are easily unlocked via the use of Google. A quick Google search on Tazo lead me to their web site whereupon I found they were acquired by Starbuks in 1999. So, things come back full circle to an earlier post about my potential additional to Starbuks' iced Chai and my potential propensity to drink it every day like a Don Gorske inhaling tea addict.

Cheers.

Tea Time? Too Many Teas?

Later tonight I'll be adding a post about our adventures to find a tea in the grocery stores that resembles closely the teas that we make ourselves. As a teaser I'll upload a pretty remarkable set of pictures that will surprise and shock! We'll also make a posting about Lisa's further Chutney adventures. Cheers. Micahel

of radishes and cabbages, and paniyaram and panir

The recipe for cabbage curry (see post below) looks very neat. I might actually do it as a bubble and squeak (you folks over in Britain know what I'm talking about). Steam the cabbage and potato and saute briefly with the spices and tomato, then into a non-stick frypan with a good bit of oil at the bottom. Cover and cook until the bottom is browned, (hear it bubble?), really browned, (hear it squeak?), don't be scared now, go on, let it cook. Flip if out onto a big plate. Yum. This would be great with a piquant tomato chutney, some marinated panir (soak it in the spiced lemon vinaigrette recipe for a half hour), and simple chapati or roti. Oh, YEAH!

So...radishes. Not just for salads anymore. I am growing some lovely watermelon radishes in the garden (see the cross section photo, how lovely). They are so peppery hot that I can't eat them raw. I was thinking of pickling them, but then decided to cook them using a recipe from Lord Krishna's Cuisine. I also happen to be growing swiss chard, which was also featured in the same recipe. This turned out beautifully. The radish mellows and turns soft and buttery. Married with the tangy chard and suffused with spices. It was just heavenly. One downside is that cooking radishes, as with most cruciferous vegetables, smells up the house. So light some incense and get cooking.

OK, by now you must have suspected that the cookware pictured above is, in fact, the aebelskiver pan that I have been waiting for. Aebelskivers are puffy Skandinavian delicacies, like little souffle cupcakes. What does this have to do with Indian food? Well, the same pan can be used to make Paniyaram: little Indian souffle cupcakes. Paniyaram are made with a thick, fermented, dosa batter, with added spices and veggies. I didn't have any dosa batter brewing, so I used pancake batter with a bit of cardamom and the result was so cute. Little round fluffy pancake muffin things. Of course I ate them with chutney. Next week I will experiment with the actual dosa batter paniyaram recipes. Various websites suggest that these make great lunchbox fillers for the kiddies. We'll see about that.

Now, on to panir. I did make some the other day and did make a salad with it. Best salad ever. Can't really say anything more. Recipes are below, try them out.

Radish and Chard (mooli sabji)

6 medium radishes
1/2 lb Swiss Chard
1 t cumin seeds
1 t coriander seeds
1/4 t ajwain seeds
3 T ghee or oil (or less as preferred)
1/2 t turmeric
1/4 t cayenne
2 t sugar, maple or brown
1 t salt
2 t fresh lemon or lime juice

Thinly slice radishes and chop the chard. Steam in a vegetable steamer until crisp tender 10-15 min. heat the ghee or oil in a non stick pan and toss in the seeds. Fry for a minute then turn in the steamed veggies. Stir fry for 5 minutes, then toss in the turmeric, cayenne, sugar, and salt. Stir fry 2 minutes more. Turn onto plate and sprinkle with the lemon or lime juice.

Lisa's spinach salad with panir.

1/4 cup dry garbanzo beans
1 t fresh grated ginger
1/2 bag of fresh baby spinach leaves (or a large bunch of leaves, torn to salad size)
1 or 2 carrots, shredded
2 or three oz fresh panir, cubed.
Spiced Lemon Vinaigrette (see recipe page)

Soak the garbanzo beans overnight. Drain and mix with the grated ginger. Set aside. Put the spinace, carrots, and panir in a bowl and toss with the vinaigrette. Arrange on plates and sprinkle with garbanzo beans.
Simple, healthy, and good.

Cambridge Cabbage Curry Connection

(Re the title: Just saw a wonderful rainbow yesterday, which put me in the Kermit the Frog Rainbow Connection Song state of mind. Picture to follow in Saturday's Post.)

Our fried Neil from Cambridge has kindly sent us an interesting recipe for cabbage curry. Generally when we think of curries in the States (or when we are abroad taking with us our experiences and memories...) we conjure up in our minds visions of yellow sauces with chicken and assorted vegetables. This recipe is very promising; it will come down to execution. When I'm back in the states and we're in the kitchen together we'll make our best effor at this one. Thanks Neil.

Cabbage Curry

Ingredients

One small tapering green cabbage

One small peeled potato

One medium sized tomato

4 tbsp of cooking oil

¼ tsp cumin seed

¼ tsp ginger powder (or chopped root ginger)

¼ tsp turmeric powder

1 tsp cumin powder

¼ tsp chilli powder (otherwise cook without)

1 ground cardamom

1 cinnamon stick

2 to 3 cloves Salt and sugar (according to taste)

Cooking Instructions

Wash the cabbage and chop it finely into strips. Slice the potato into 2cm cubes. Chop the tomato into small cubes. Heat the oil in a saucepan and when it is hot . Put the cumin seeds, put the sliced potato . Fry the potato for 2-3 minutes, then add the chopped cabbage and stir. Add 1/3 tsp salt when you are frying and then add the spices one by one . Then add chopped tomato. Go on stirring at a slow heat for about 15 minutes. Add ½ tsp sugar and stir it. Taste it, make sure potatoes and cabbage is boiled, sprinkle ground cardamom, cinnamon and cloves.

Michael

Okra Gets a Second Chance and Panir Tales

I owe Okra an apology. I'm sorry I doubted you. With fresh okra from my very own garden, picked when they are just a few inches long, Okra Supreme is pretty delectable.
I also have a confession to make: I tried to make panir with goat milk a couple weeks ago and utterly failed to get the stuff to curdle. I don't know what exactly when wrong; maybe I was not in a panir frame of mind. I was a bit discouraged by that; but then my sister sent me an email with... The Cheese Picture. Observe the groovy 70s collar, belt, and hiphuggers. Look at Joan's face at the right edge as she skeptically reads the instructions! Reminded me that a few failures should not stop me from trying again. So I did manage to make a cow's milk panir today and it turned out just fine. I will have in in a nice spinach salad for tomorrow's lunch.
I won't be posting tomorrow on Rosh haShanah, but I will on Friday. Maybe the Aebelskiver pan will be here by then!

King Fisher in the UK

Went for a bite to eat tonight at the India House in Cam. Earlier posts and comments regarding Indian food in England continue to resonnate. I tried a chicken curry; which tasted gritty and sugar cane like sweet. The one upside to the meal was the King Fisher on the menu which I happened to order... We have not yet covered the history of beer in India and pale ales and we will certainly get to that - which should be exciting!

There is nothing like a good Kingfisher on a hot day, or to accompany a less than desirable meal. The beer orignates from a handful of small breweries in South Indian. The oldest, Castle Breweries, dates back to 1857. In 1915 the breweries were combined under the United Brewery label. The beers remain popular in Madras and other locations. The lore is that the beer was particularly popular with Brittish troops stationed in India. When we cover beers in more detail we'll also go in to khaki pants and India as well as what it means to "cut the mustard." I am starting to think the tolerance for sub-par Indian food in England is partially influenced by the abundance of drinkable and often delightful beers (which I understand some consider a food group by itself). L'Chaim.

Lisa will be making some posts this week while I'm in the UK on more eatable and interesting food things :)

Idlli...Uppma; Uppma...Idlli

For our readers who are unfamiliar with American pop culture ...the reference in the title of this post is to David Letterman introducing Uma Thurman to Oprah Winfrey at the Oscars in 1995. He was ad libbing a bit and became fixated on the unusual first names of those women, who were sitting toward the front, and so he "introduced them" to each other: "Uma ... Oprah; Oprah ... Uma." Apparently, neither woman appreciated the humor.
So, I am now fixated on Iddli and Uppma (and also some other things which I will blog about soon). What are Iddli and Uppma? Well you might ask. Iddli are a kind of steamed dumpling/cupcake make from rice and dal (how healthy!!!) and can be spiced up with other ingredients. Uppma is a sort of fluffy polenta-like mixture often made with semolina, but can be made with other grains. I had no idea what either of them were supposed to look like or even how to eat them. So the internet came to the rescue once again (you can find video on youtube of people eating various foods so you never have to be embarrassed at an unfamiliar restaurant again! Like the time, I went to a Korean BBQ restaurant and didn't know what to do with some stuff in a bowl: eat it? wash my fingers? drink it? use it to douse the flames of the barbeque?). Above, are a couple of pictures of what they are supposed to look like compared to mine. HA! it's just so pathetic. In my defense, I didn't pose my food and they tasted quite good. Also, I don't own an Idlli cooker so I had to use muffin cups in a dutch oven with a vegetable steamer. I might have to break down and get an idlli cooker. No real excuse for the Uppma, since I make polenta and risotto.
Anywho...the Idlli were not quite as light as maybe they should have been. My batter might have been a bit too thin (and also I used brown rice and split peas instead of white rice and urad dal, so ya' know...see above for more excuses). But our son liked them with a bit of butter on top. I ate them with a tamarind coconut chutney. Good microwaved for 20 seconds the next day, too. The Uppma was hearty and filling. Comfort food with a kick! I actually like to heat it up and thin it out with some yoghurt or buttermilk and eat it like a porridge or cream of wheat for breakfast.
I'll post some recipes once I get more experience with these. I am going to try to make varieties of Idlli for lunch box fillers and snacks.
OK, I have to tell you...I ordered an aebleskiver pan!! It will be here this week!!! Stay tuned for news about that!!!! Is there any reason to use all these exclamation marks????!!!!!

Saturday Grilled Cheese with A Red Pepper Paratha

Weekends are a good time for a classic grilled cheese sandwich and bowl of tomato soup. We went with a pea and potato paratha seasoned with garam masala, cummin, cardamon, and extra red-pepper. Both sides of the bread were brushed with extra virgin Trader Joes Olive Oil to create a nice crispy outside. The bread was paired with a low fat "Monster" cheese as Solly likes to call it. Pictured is my version without the cheese melted on top - either way is good although Sol prefers the melted approach. (There is a place in Culver City I believe named Melted or Melts which only serves grilled cheese - I am assuming this is not on the menu). The sandwiches were served with a crisp La Crema Chardonnay. The tasting notes from Melissa Stackhouse from the winery are pretty on the nose for this one: "shows exotic floral and tropical fruit on the nose, punctuated by appealing butterscotch, lemon peel, and spice notes. The palate expands into bright peach, grilled pineapple and honeysuckle with subtle toast and caramel adding richness and beautiful texture on the finish." Really a nice simple Summer lunch.

Cheers :)

Review: The Art of Indian Vegetarian Cooking by Yamuna Devi

As you know, I have been cooking extensively from The Art of Indian Vegetarian Cooking by Yamuna Devi. That book is the result of her personal journey, begun serendipitously in 1967 when she traveled to New York to attend her sister's wedding. There she met Srila Prabhupada, the founder of the Krishna Consciousness movement in the U.S., who was officiating at the wedding, and who would become her spiritual and culinary mentor. Within a short time, she was traveling through India absorbing the culture, traditions, and foodways, (particularly the Vedic traditions) and cooking for her mentor. She became a devotee of Krishna and adopted the name Yamuna Devi.
The book, first published in 1987 and reissued in 1999, is as vast as the subcontinent. At 773 pages, it covers the spectrum of Vedic cuisine with more than 500 recipes, an extensive A-Z reference guide to ingredients, cooking techniques, and meal planning and service. The Table of Contents gives a hint at its scope and organization: Rice, Dals, Breads, Vegetables, Dairy Products and Dishes, Salads, Chutneys, Sauces and Relishes, Light Meals and Savories, Snacks and Nibbles, Sweets, Beverages. Pick one item from each section and you have a banquet!
It would be easy to get overwhelmed with this book. But Ms. Devi provides menu planning help with each recipe. She explains the cultural or culinary context in which that particular food is eaten and offers complementary menu items from among the other recipes. She repeats what she believes are the essential instructions and techniques for each recipe, contributing to the heft of the book, but limiting the need to refer to other recipes or explanations.
She also guides the budding cook in exploring techniques of cooking and spicing. For example, the introduction to the Vegetables section explains the three main methods of cooking vegetables and then offers three different potato recipes, each featuring a unique seasoning regimen. She instructs the reader to prepare the each seasoning regimen in each of the three cooking methods (so that's 9 recipes altogether) and to concentrate on the differences in taste, texture, and experience among the recipes. This exercise builds confidence and skill in handing ingredients, spicing, and technique. It also heightens the cook's sensitivity to flavor nuances that might otherwise go unnoticed.
If you are thinking of exploring Indian food, or vegetarian food, this book will be your indispensable guide to creating sumptuous, healthy, exhilarating meals.
Here is a recipe that seems like it will be yummy as the weather gets cooler:

Herbed Split Pea Soup with Apple and Coconut

2/3 c green or yellow split peas
1 t peeled and shredded ginger
1-2 hot chilies, minced
1 t cumin seeds
2 inch piece of cinnamon stick
8 cloves
4 black peppercorns
4T ghee or vegetable oil
1 t tumeric
7 cups water
1 large apple, cored and cut into 16 pieces
1/4 cup fresh or dried shredded coconut
2T minced parsley or coriander leaves
1 1/2 t salt

Soak the split peas in hot water for 5 hours. Drain.
Combing the ginger, chili, cumin seeds, cinnamon, cloves and peppercorns in a small bowl. Heat the ghee or oil in a heavy 3 quart non-stick saucepan. When it is hot, sprinkle in the combined seasonings. Fry until the cumin seeds turn brown. Add turmeric and follow immediately with the water. Bring to boil and add the peas, apple and coconut.
Reduce heat to low and cook, covered, for 1 1/2 hours or until soft. Stir in the herbs and salt and serve.

Mini Spice Flower Planters

You know you've cooked a lot of Indian food when your family is at the point it can start to use spice containers as mini-flower planters. Our 5-year old daughter likes to pick flowers from the garden after a good game of basketball or a trip to the park. Pictured are our planters from garlic, bay leaves (a good add for most rice dishes), and paprika (fantastic with hot peppers and chicken). ...And the garlic? India surprisingly produces about 650K tons of garlic a year, much of which is used to make condiments, and add a kick to all types of dishes from lamb to vegges. Garlic naan is extremely popular in the States (Trader Joes' carries both a frozen and fresh version in most stores - the frozen version is a bit thinner and flakier). The following is a nice recipe for garlic naan:

Ingredients

• 1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
• 1 cup warm water
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 3 tablespoons milk (2% will be fine but the bread will not be as full flavoured)
  
• 1 egg, beaten
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 4 1/2 cups bread flour
• 2 teaspoons minced garlic (optional)
• 1/4 cup butter, melted

Directions

1. In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Let stand about 10 minutes, until frothy. Stir in sugar, milk, egg, salt, and enough flour to make a soft dough. Knead for 6 to 8 minutes on a lightly floured surface, or until smooth. Place dough in a well oiled bowl, cover with a damp cloth, and set aside to rise. Let it rise 1 hour, until the dough has doubled in volume.
2. Punch down dough, and knead in garlic. Pinch off small handfuls of dough about the size of a golf ball. Roll into balls, and place on a tray. Cover with a towel, and allow to rise until doubled in size, about 30 minutes.
3. During the second rising, preheat grill to high heat.
4. At grill side, roll one ball of dough out into a thin circle. Lightly oil grill. Place dough on grill, and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, or until puffy and lightly browned. Brush uncooked side with butter, and turn over. Brush cooked side with butter, and cook until browned, another 2 to 4 minutes. Remove from grill, and continue the process until all the naan has been prepared.