18 posts tagged “recipe”
I've never eaten a quiche of the egg kind, but they are served at our Grand Rounds and I love the way the mini-quiches look. So I when I stumbled on to this wonderful recipe from the Fatfree Vegan Kitchen, it was a chance not to be missed.
I subbed the vegetables with broccoli, carrots, beans and corn, and used Herbs de Provence instead of rosemary. The tofu I used was the fresh non-silken kind sold at the International store, but it worked just as well. Served with ketchup and hot tea. :)
In North West India where I grew up, chickpeas are cooked in two ways. One is the Punjabi chana masala, in which chickpeas are drenched in a spicy gravy of onion, ginger, garlic and tomatoes. The other is the classic Pindi chana (from its city of birth, Rawalpindi, now in Pakistan), which is served dry and tangy, with no gravy and a dark black color.
My own version is a hybrid of the two, with a tomato-yogurt gravy and a homemade chana masala spice mix.
Ingredients for the spice mix (makes 1 cup. Chana masala can also be bought in Indian grocery stores.) I have this recipe written down from an unknown recipe book, possibly The Indian Vegetarian by Neelam Batra.
- 3 tbsp dried pomegranate seeds
- 3 tbsp ground cumin
- 2 tbsp ground coriander
- 1 tbsp ground fenugreek seeds
- 1 tbsp ground ginger
- 1 tbsp mango powder
- 1 tbsp tamarind powder
- 1 tbsp black salt
- 2 tsp asfoetida
- 2 tsp ground black peppercorns
- 2 tsp ground carom seeds
- 1 tsp ground red chili pepper
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground cloves
Place all the spices in a small, heavy iron skillet and roast on medium heat for 3-4 minutes until brown and fragrant. Ground spices burn quickly, so be careful. Cool and store in an airtight container.
Once you have the spice mix, making a chickpea curry is easy.
You'll need-
- 2 cups dried chickpeas, soaked overnight (or 6 cups canned)
- 1/4 cup sour yogurt
- 1/4 cup tomato puree
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 1/4 tsp asfoetida
- 3-4 tbsp of the chana masala spice mix
- 1 tbsp ginger-green chili paste
- salt to taste
- Cilantro and slivered ginger for garnish
- Cook the soaked chickpeas in a pressure cooker ( twenty minutes after pressure builds up) or in a pan with 4 cups of water, and 1 tsp salt, until firm but cooked through. Canned chickpeas do not need to be cooked.
- Heat the oil in a sauce pan. Add the bay leaf, asfoetida, cumin and wait till they sizzle.
- Add the spice mix and the ginger green chili paste and stir for a few seconds.
- Add the yogurt and the tomato puree and bring it to a boil.
- Add the chickpeas with the cooking water and bring to a boil. Lower the heat, cover and simmer for ten minutes.
- Adjust seasoning. Garnish with cilantro and ginger.
- Serve with yogurt, plain rice and flatbreads.
If you like chickpeas and you like spice, you're going to LOVE chana masala. The picture of soaked chickpeas goes to Jugalbandi for Click May 2008- beans and lentils.
A rich combination of saffron flavored rice and spicy vegetables, a legacy from the Mughal conquerers of India. Traditionally, biryani is layered in an earthen pot, sealed with wet dough, and baked on low heat in a wood fired clay oven. We substituted a pyrex dish, aluminium foil and the electric oven. :)
Edited to add the recipe.
Ingredients-
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3 tomatoes, finely chopped |
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2 bell peppers, sliced |
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2 teacups mixed boiled vegetables ( beans, carrots, peas, corn, cauliflower, potatoes) |
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1 tablespoon chopped cilantro |
Grind to a paste-
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3 cardamoms |
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1/2 teaspoon turmeric |
- Cook the rice. For basmati, I use exactly double the volume of water.
- Add the saffron dissolved in a spoonful of warm water, and salt to taste. Mix well.
- Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees.
- Heat a tsp of oil in a skillet and fry the cashews and raisins. Or toast them in the microwave. Remove.
- Heat another tsp of oil. Fry the paste for 2-3 minutes, until the raw smell is gone.
- Add the tomatoes and peppers and saute for a minute or two.
- Add the other vegetables and cilantro. Mix well.
- Spray a glass casserole dish (10 by 10 is a good size.)
- Layer rice and vegetables, starting and ending with rice.
- Cover tightly with foil and bake for twenty minutes.
- Garnish with cashews and raisins.
Serve with yogurt.
Lately, there hasn't been a lot of cooking in our kitchen. Our schedules are out of whack, its been busy, research day is looming large and making me anxious. Looking for some food for the soul, I pulled out the no-knead dough from the fridge and baked it, along with a roasted tomato soup.
Here's the soup recipe.
- Roast tomatoes with some olive oil and balsamic vinegar on a baking tray. I used a can of whole tomatoes, drained, some whole cherry tomatoes and a halved vine tomato, and baked them at 350 degrees for 50 minutes.
- In a soup pot, saute a red onion, a chopped celery rib and a carrot or two. Add garlic if you like. Let them soften.
- Add the tomatoes, tomato juice (from the can), salt, pepper, and a handful of fresh basil. Add as much water as you like.
- Once the soup is done, run a hand blender through it once or twice to mix it up.
Roasting really brings out the flavor in the tomatoes. This is the perfect soup..its easy, needs no special ingredients and has incredible flavor.
About the bread..the first thing that hit me was the smell of wine as soon as I removed the wrap..the yeast is obviously still working. The dough has been rising steadily in the fridge over the last week. The bread has a great crust, big, hole-y crumb and tastes good, but its not a sourdough.
p.s. Vox will not let me post the extra-large size pic. Why?
Last week was crazy. Insane amounts of work and no time to do anything else. I was supposed to be on call this weekend but they changed the schedule (thank God!) and here I am, sitting on the couch, eating day-old oatmeal and catching up with Vox. Bliss.
Yesterday, we spent all day cooking and preparing our tax return. We got a lot of cooking done, but the return looks kooky and must be reviewed by a professional. Such is the way of things.
First, I wanted to make bread bowls for soup. The vegan feast kitchen's no knead bread sounded perfect..you mix the dough, let it rise, put it in the fridge, and use it over next two weeks to make focaccia, pizza crust or bread loaves! I used 1/4th of the recipe to make one bread bowl.
The shape can probably be improved by baking the bread in bowls.
This bread definitely has a better flavor than the original Lahey no knead bread. We had it with white bean and vegetable soup.
In the evening, HUGE dessert craving. The first thing that came to mind was chocolate pudding (I blame Singing Horse). Here is the recipe we used.
It takes all of ten minutes and is very yummy (so much for dieting), though I prefer more texture in my dessert. Maybe add nuts/coconut to the pudding itself?
A loved it, and he's not a chocoholic. So this shall be filed for future use.
Desi -style.
Add your choice of cereal mixes - wheat bran flakes, wheat puffs, rice chex.
Think? What else would be good? Add tea bags to the water.
Add a handful of roasted peanuts and crushed multi-grain chips to the mix. Eat some peanuts.
Sprinkle a spoonful of red chili powder and lots of chaat masala (tangy Indian spice mix, available in Indian stores). Move it around for a couple of minutes or so, until the cereal gets browned. Take off the heat and cool. Remove the burnt bran pieces. Next time, don't chat online when making namkeen (literally- salty, but used as a noun for all savory crispy snacks.)
Serve with tea.
There are no measurements in this recipe- use as much or as little of anything that you like. Its all good.
I do not believe in curry powder. It is a British invention and not something you would find in an Indian kitchen. What every desi kitchen would have, though, is a masaaldan, or spice-box. It usually contains six or seven main spices that are used every day, in almost every meal, and must be on hand for easy access. These spices are the building blocks of any Indian meal, and probably of the infamous curry powder.
Clockwise from the top- fenugreek seeds, caraway seeds, black mustard seeds, cumin, turmeric, powdered coriander seeds. In the center is red chili powder. The garam masala (hot spice-mix) and asfoetida are also essential, but being strongly aromatic are kept in tightly closed jars. With these spices on hand, I can make most simple home meals. The big guns? Cloves, cinnamon, black pepper, saffron, nigella seeds, bay leaf, cardamom, fennel seeds..the list is endless.
Tonight, we made tomato rice for dinner.
Made exactly according to this recipe. Long grain Basmati rice flavored with tomatoes and tempered with spices and roasted lentils. Delicious.
Stuffed kulchas with cabbage-carrot raita (yogurt dip) and pickle. Kulchas are fluffy, yeasty flat breads, stuffed with anything from potatoes to onions to cheese and cooked on a grill/griddle. A perfect dinner when we're out of fresh veggies and craving comfort food. Brush them with a little butter and they're fit to serve a king.
From this recipe. I used a potato-pea stuffing instead and cooked the kulchas under the broiler, about a minute on each side.
Cabbage-carrot raita
- 1/4 cup shredded cabbage
- 1/4 cup shredded carrots
- 1 cup plain yogurt, whisked
- 1/2 tsp cumin, roasted, ground
- 1/2 tsp chili flakes
- 1/2 tsp dried mint flakes (or fresh)
- 1 tbsp chopped cilantro
- salt to taste
Mix all the ingredients together and refrigerate for an hour. Use like a dip with pita chips or Indian flat breads.
I love muffins. As far as I'm concerned, muffins are just cupcakes without the icing, and they can be eaten for breakfast, evening tea, snack..anytime at all. This recipe, adapted from the super veganomicon, is also disgustingly healthy and has only about 140 calories per large muffin.
1/2 cup milk
1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup applesauce
1 tbsp canola oil
1/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup oat/wheat bran
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup dried apple pieces/raisins
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Mix together milk and vinegar and let stand for a minute. Add applesauce, oil, sugar and whisk together.
- In another bowl, mix all the dry ingredients except raisins/apple pieces.
- Mix the dry ingredients into the wet; add raisins and fold.
- Pour into greased muffin pan and bake for 20 minutes.
Makes 6 muffins, and you can double the recipe (I halved the original).
I used my silicone muffin pan, and did not even have to do any pre-greasing. The whole thing took 30 minutes in all..amazing!
Compelled by the presence of half a box of kumquats in the fridge, I came up with a mash-up of this recipe with this dressing, well, sort of. Our version was much simplified due to lack of time and lemongrass.
- 1/4 cup lime juice
- zest of one lime
- 2 tbsp rice vinegar
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 1/2 inch piece of fresh ginger, grated (optional)
- 4 oz kumquats, sliced and deseeded
Combine first five ingredients in a pan and heat on medium until the sugar dissolves. Then add the kumquats and simmer for a minute. Take off the heat and cool.
This is a great dressing for greens or fruit salads, and even for entrees, like the Bon Appetit recipe suggests.
We added this to a salad of barely steamed sprouts, cucumber, tomato, green chilli and lettuce. The dressing was tart and sweet, the green chilli was quite hot. It was rather divine.
