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.

Indian Apple Pie Part Deux

We gave the pie another take and it came out very nicely. We used a traditional 1/2 & 1/2 crust (half whole wheat & half white baking flour). For the filling we used six Granny Smith apples, 1 tablespoon of red pepper, 1 tablespoon of cardamon, 1 tablespoon of cinnamon, 1 tablespoon of garam masala, and 1 tablespoon of cumin. Mixed in with this was 1/2 a cup of dried low fat coconut, 1/2 a cup of pecans, and 1/2 a cup of organic sugar. We didn't roast the spices before hand like the last time. Lisa believes it was missing a little something as a result. I am now addicted to eating this pie and have had 2 pieces each day for the last 3 days; albeit modest pieces. I can not bear to put it in the bin so the rest will be traveling to the office with me in the a.m. There is a scene in the Dom Deluise film Fatso where he orders Chinese food for the family and ends up eating it all in the car as he drives home from the pick-up place. Let's hope the a.m. is not a repeat of that scene.

On Wednesday we are going to explore some new rices to use as a base and/or accompaniment to meals.

Michael

Chutney Love and Living Out of Bounds

I am fast acquiring a chutney habit. Chutney is a thin or thick sauce of fruit or vegetables, mild or spicy, sweet or savory, cooked or raw, that is eaten in the morning or afternoon or evening. That seems perfectly clear doesn't it? Chutney is varied and versatile. All are yummy and easy to make. I like to make one raw and one cooked chutney at the beginning of the week. The cooked chutney will last about a week in the fridge. The raw chutney, depending on the ingredients will only last a couple of days. So, for example, a fresh coconut and mint chutney is delicate (the coconut and mint still have their active enzymes intact and will soon spoil) and is best eaten soon after it is made. A hearty cooked plum chutney is like a jam (with heat killing any molds on the surface and deactivating the plant enzymes and sugar acting as a preservative) can be eaten up to a week after it is made.

OK enough with the chemistry lesson. Last week I made a Roasted Toovar Dal and Coconut Chutney from Lord Krishna's Cuisine. OH BOY. You can see a picture of the split peas and coconut dry roasting. The smell of this was scrumptious. It filled the house with nutty, rich, spicy fragrance. The roasted ingredients were then blended with water, chilis, yoghurt and a bit of salt. The final product was like a rich, smooth, cream. Nice with dosas. It came in handy when I was looking to make a quick fish dinner. I spread it over and under tilapia filets and wrapped them up in parchment and foil (or you could bake in a baking dish) and popped them on the grill for 10 minutes. The result was gourmet.

I also made a Spicy Plum Chutney (also from LKC) and have been eating that all week. This morning, I had dosas with a raita made from yoghurt mixed with the plum chutney. I love that chutney + yoghurt = instant raita!

So, let's review: chutney is good. chutney can be used as a baking sauce for fish or chicken or tofu or whatever. chutney can be used to make instant raita.

Michael and I were talking yesterday about why it is that people continue to do things or live in ways that are not healthy (physically, spiritually, emotionally, psychologically, or financially). It started as a conversation about footwear. Michael likes to wear comfortable footwear and had recently bought some new sneakers. The conversation wandered to why people continue to wear shoes that, quite literally, injure and deform their feet, cause back and knee pain, and are just plain dangerous. I noted that it was difficult, particularly for women, in the 1980's (when I was starting my career) to find footwear that was comfortable and stylish. Even the so-called "comfort pumps" resulted in corns, callouses, and overall pain. To say nothing of the issues with women's hosiery. After spending my days squirming in uncomfortable skirts, hose, and pumps, I adopted the habit of wearing stylish pants suits with oxford-type or loafer shoes. This was nearly unheard of for women attorneys at that time. I may have been one of the first women attorneys for the government, if not the first, to go to Tax Court in a pants suit. I was actually told that I was rejected for a promotion because I had worn a pants suit to the interview. That was the only reason given. Can you believe it?

Anyway, since this is a food blog, we also wonder why folks continue to eat what is referred to among us "healthy eating types" as the Standard American Diet (SAD)? You know, lots of meat, high gylcemic carbs, low fiber, overcooked veggies, tons of processed items and mass market cakes, cookies, candy, and ice cream. Whether it is habits acquired in youth (eating what your parents eat); marketing (commercials, ads, and in-store display and shelving techniques); community pressure; or perceived convenience, people seem unable to let go of old ways and even acknowledge that there might be something that is more appropriate to their own health or that is even just tastier!

Seems that folks don't like to go out of bounds. Sixteen years ago, when I announced to my friends and colleagues in Philly that I would be moving to California, the universal reaction was something like: "You'll fit in just fine with all the fruits and nuts." You see, I was known for my strange ways: eating tofu, eschewing animal foods that were harvested or raised in inhumane or environmentally damaging ways, boycotting certain foods in support of farm workers, etc.

Some people have commented that this project must be really hard to do. After all, eating an exotic food every day, all that cooking, how do you know what the ingredients are, etc. Well, that's the whole point isn't it. What I am discovering is that Indian restaurants by and large offer mostly the same sort of fare and do not go out of bounds in offering dishes that represent the kind of everyday fare (or even banquet fare) that is enjoyed by Southeast Asian families. (See review of Gordon Ramsay's Great Escape). Accordingly, if the only exposure one has to Indian food is from restaurants, one is missing out on 90% of the experience. Check out the recipes on this blog; you would be hard pressed to find anything like them in a typical Indian restaurant catering to "American" tastes. As for the cooking, I cook anyway, so, as I have said in other posts, it is not a big change in lifestyle and in some ways is easier.
Discovering something different is what this project is all about.

We hope that this project will takes not just out of our culinary bounds, but that we will discover what other bounds we are living in and break out of those as well.

Recipes

Roasted Yellow Split Pea and Coconut Chutney
Lord Krishna's Cuisine

2 T ghee, nut or vegetable oil
1/2 t black mustard seeds
1/4 cup yellow split peas or toovar dal
1/2 cup unsweetened shredded dried coconut
2/3 cup warm water
2-3 hot jalepeno chilies, chopped
1/3 yoghurt
1t salt
1/4 t yellow asafetida powder (hing)

Heat ghee or oil is a large frying pan. Drop in the black mustard seeds and fry until they begin to pop. Add the toovar dal and dry roast until the color darkens two shades. Add the coconut and stir fry 2-3 more minutes.
Place dal-coconut mixture in a blender and process to a powder. Add the remaining ingredients and blend until smooth and creamy.

Spicy Plum Chutney
Lord Krishna's Cuisine

3 T ghee or mixture of butter and corn oil
1/2 t fennel seeds
1/4 t nigella seeds (kalonji)
1/2 t black mustard seeds
2 hot green chilies chopped
1 1/2 pounds Italian plums, pitted and chopped
1/2 cup raisins
1 1/2 cup sugar (I used 1/2 cup)
1/4 t salt
1/4 cup chopped toasted walnuts
1/4 cup fresh or dried ribbon coconut (I used dried grated)
2 T minced ginger

Heat the ghee or oil in a large heavy bottomed saucepan. Fry the seeds and chilies until the seeds start to pop. Add the plums, raisins, sugar, and salt and cook, stirring occasionally for 30-40 minutes until thick. Remove from heat and stir in the walnuts, coconut and ginger.

You say Samoso I say Somasa...

I have Gershwin's song Let's Call the Whole Thing Off in my head every time I think of samosas. I'm not sure why. Maybe a remnant of listening to the Harry C. Jr. version the first time I ever had a decent one; maybe it is the fact the common US variety is a potato staple. We had a couple of samosas with dinner tonight and they were wonderful. It would be nice to come up with a baked version - which is a story for another day. The samosa as most know is an Indian filled pastry - hopefully a flaky one - filled with spiced meats or potato. They should be served with a mix of chutneys. Often considered a snack food they go just fine as an appetizer. Like many Indian foods there are regional differences. Apparently there are varieties in Northern India filled with raisins and pomegranate and topped with cumin, a much more exotic version than the common cauliflower, potato, and pea seasoned filling one will find in the UK or the US. Our friend John A. will be taking a 2 week trip to India with his better half shortly. We'll see if he can do a guest post with his samosa/tea shop experiences.

This weekend we will be giving the pie covered in an earlier post another take and doing some chutneys. Cheers :)

Moti Mahal Butter Chicken Meets Ramsay Meets Primavera

On the left is a cross-section of the delightful Indian apple pie - it was better the next day. I came home tonight to a phenomenal butter chicken recipe developed by Gordon Ramsay on his trip to India (based upon the Moti Mahal version) that Lisa adapted - replacing double cream for yogurt and using 1/3 the butter called for in the original recipe. There are a number of different versions of this recipe floating around, the key ingredients for the sauce are ghee, garlic, gloves, ginger, cardamon pods, cloves, corriander, garam masala, tumeric, chilli power, tomato puree, lemon juice, and dairy. The dish is so popular there are, get this pre-made butter chicken pastes for purchase (including on-line via Amazon). We can't vouch for any of them; but post one here out of utter shock/surprise. http://www.amazon.com/Asian-Home-Gourmet-Chicken-1-75-Ounce/dp/B000JX09HW.


We are going to work up a kosher version and perhaps replace the dairy with something; or, simply substitute the chicken for another protein. This chicken is really all the rage for a reason. It was hands down the best Indian poultry dish I ever had. We will get better with the pictures, the picture on the left is my plate a couple of minutes in to dinner when I realized, my goodness this is so amazing we need to photograph this. We had the same issue at the start with our first set of parathas (getting so excited we ate them before there was time for pictures).

Surprising and Delightful

Surprising and delightful. Take a look at the pie. What is surprising about it? Well, first, the cool crust. Michael has secretly been reading food blogs and got this crust idea. We needed an unusual crust to indicate that this is an unusual pie. I think that the outside of a pastry or goodie has to indicate somehow what is on the inside. We can talk about whether it needs to be a direct statement or should be a bit more coy or cryptic or ironic. So, Michael had the challenge of coming up with a crust that was not a regular apple pie crust. The second surprising thing about this pie is that the inside is not your run-of-the-mill apple filling. It is a fully spiced apple chutney! Yes, it includes cumin seeds, cayenne, fennel seeds, coriander seeds, cardamon, coconut, and walnuts.
Delightful is the taste. What a fun experience to bit into an apple pie and taste the cumin and then the cayenne. What is that next taste? Walnuts? Coriander seed? Nutmeg? I think this is a much more satisfying experience than a straight-up pie.
Surprising and delightful. My darling husband, who thought to make a pie out of chutney, who created a fun and charming crust, who just couldn't wait for this pie to cool. Yup, he's surprising and delightful.

I will post a recipe for the pie as soon as I have perfected the crust. This one did not come out quite right. Stay tuned.

So, it was hot here last week and I was craving some refreshing and cooling salads. Once again, I ate them up before I could take pictures. Lord Krishna's Cuisine was the source of my salad binge. I decided to do a mung bean and cucumber salad. This is a simple salad of soaked split mung beans, thinly sliced cucumbers, and julienned ginger that never made it out of the mixing bowl. I love the idea of soaked or lightly sprouted raw legumes in a salad. (I like to keep my diet about half raw foods).
Next, I did a string bean/yogurt salad that was just so rich that I almost felt guilty eating it. Then sweet potato salad with a maple citrus dressing. Then a spinach salad with a spiced citrus vinaigrette that I made up.

So here are the recipes:

Mung Dal Cucumber Salad
Lord Krishna's Cuisine

1/4 cup split mung dal (with or without skins)
1 cup water
1- 1 1/2 inches of fresh ginger, peeled and julienned
salt to taste
1 or 2 cucumbers (I used two persian cucumbers)
lemon or lime juice

Soak the dal in the water for at least 4 hours. Drain. Mix the dal with the ginger and salt. Cut the cucumbers into quarters lengthwise and then into one inch chunks (seed the cucumbers if you are using regular large cucumbers). Mound the dal onto a serving plate and surround by cucumbers and sprinkle with lemon or lime juice.

Green Bean in Yogurt Poppy Seed Sauce
Lord Krishna's Cuisine

3 T white poppy seeds or chopped cashews
2 hot green chilis
1/2 in ginger, chopped
1/2 t cumin seeds
1/4 cup chopped fresh coriander or parsely
3/4 cup plain yogurt
1 pound green beans, trimmed, cut into 3 in pieces and steamed until tender-crisp
3 T butter or ghee
1 bay leaf
1t salt
1/4 t nutmeg

Powder the poppy seeds or cashews in a food processor. Add the chilis, ginger, cumin, half of the fresh herb and the yogurt. Blend until creamy. Heat the ghee in a large frying pan and toast the bay leaf. Pour in the green beans, yogurt sauce, salt and nutmeg and stir until combined and thickened. Can be served hot, warm, or cold.

Sweet potato salad in Maple-Lemon Vinaigrette
Lord Krishna's Cuisine

One sweet potato
1 T maple syrup
1 T orange or tangerine juice
1T lemon or lime juice
1/4 t salt
1/4 t ground black pepper or cayenne (or both!!!)
2 - 3 T olive oil
1/3 cup fresh coriander or parsley, chopped
1 T minced fresh ginger
1 medium tomato, peeled, seeded and chopped

Peel and dice the sweet potato. Steam or boil until tender. (Can also bake the potato and then dice) Combine the next ingredients (except for tomato) in a small bowl. Pour the dressing over the diced sweet potatoes. At serving time, gently mix in the tomato.

Lisa's Spiced Lemon Vinagrette

Juice of one lemon
2T olive or other oil
1/2 t each of cumin seeds, fennel seeds, fenugreek seeds.
salt and pepper to taste

Heat the oil and gently toast the seeds. Allow the oil to cool for a few minutes. Mix the oil and seeds with the lemon juice, salt and pepper. Use to dress your favorite salad greens.