Abondanza!

Abundance!  That's what we have in our garden this fall.  I trimmed the basil and parsley and there was a ton!  Several big radishes, two big butternut squashes and the swiss chard and okra are going strong and, HOORAY, my serrano peppers are smokin' hot.  So naturally I had to think of ways to use it.  I tried to make a basil chutney, but I'm not sure how I like it.  Made it with walnuts, lemon juice, serrano, and ginger.  Not the greatest, but maybe I'll pour it into some vegetable soup tomorrow.  The parsley on the other hand, that was good.  Now, I am into macrobiotic cooking and I have this favorite recipe for a tofu parsley sauce to serve over linguini that I am just addicted to.  So I took my inspiration from that and put threw some parsley, umeboshi paste (that's the macro B part), some salt and water to blend and blended gently until the parsley was just chopped fine (like a cilantro chutney).  Then I heated a good bit of olive oil and tempered some mustard seeds.  Stirred that into the parsley.  Interesting.  The parsley and umeboshi (which is salty and pungent) blend with the mellow olive oil and rich mustard seeds.  Nice with a plain papadam.  Should be good with a roti.

veggie utthapam

quick oat idli

radish and chard utthapam

macro parsley chutney

I also have been making some things from a lovely blog called Veg Inspirations (link at left).  Usha, the blogger, creates healthy innovative dishes that are just yummy.  I tried her quick oat idli.  Oh, boy.  In addition to being quick to make, with no fermentation required, they are toasty and filling, rich in healthy fiber, and just so cool.  I want to make her quinoa flaxseed utthapam this week.  I have been making utthapam this week as I fermented a nice urad dosa batter and have been using carrots, radishes, chard, and bell pepper (all except the carrots from my garden).  I love utthapam.  It's basically a thick dosa with vegetables cooked in.  So good.  Kind of like an Egg Fu Young without the egg.  I've got lots more to blog about but I need to wrap  this one up.  So, catch you on the next post.

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.