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