A Snowy Weekend

It is a snowy weekend here in St. Louis, and in most of the US actually. It has liberated us from the usual weekend chores like food shopping and given us permission to huddle in and do nothing in particular. Dog-walking is the one chore that must go on regardless of the weather- in fact, the streets are quite deserted except for the parade of shivering humans trying to stay warm while their frisky dogs run around in fur coats. Like his buddies, Dale is quite nonchalant about the snow. Here he is, giving us the, "What are y'all waiting for? Let's play" look:

Paw-prints in the snows of time?

Dale can provide comic relief even in the bleakest of weather. At one point, he got tired and sat down in the snow, only to spring back up with this expression :D

Ready to walk home and warm up by the radiator:


Last night, we were all set to walk down to our neighborhood chocolatier to get a cup of cocoa when the snow started coming down in full force. One look at the whiteout and I decided to make some hot chocolate at home instead. Normally, I just use cocoa powder, sugar and milk to whip up a simple cup, but I had a tiny bit of cream and a chocolate bar on hand and decided to make it a bit decadent. The addition of chocolate ganache really makes hot chocolate dreamily thick and sinfully delicious. It reminded us of our favorite hot chocolate from the City Bakery in Manhattan (although that stuff should be called chocolate bisque or chowder; that's how thick it is). It would be fun to try and replicate some of the flavors from their Hot Chocolate festival.

Please make every effort to buy fair-trade chocolate and cocoa. Chocolate tastes so much better when exploitation is not one of the ingredients.

Hot Chocolate

1. Place 4 squares of bittersweet chocolate in a bowl.
2. In a small saucepan, heat 3-4 T heavy cream until it is near-boiling, then pour it over the chocolate pieces. Let the chocolate melt, then whisk the cream and melted chocolate together.
3. In the same saucepan, heat 1.5 C milk along with 2-3 t sugar (or to taste), a pinch of salt, 1 T cocoa powder and a cinnamon stick. Boil the mixture briefly and turn off the heat. Stir in the chocolate ganache and 1 t vanilla extract. Strain the hot chocolate into 2 cups and serve hot.

I can't believe there have been three chocolate recipes on this blog this month! Call it winter madness. I am sending this steaming hot chocolate to Deepz who is hosting JFI: Chocolate this month. Now that promises to be one sweet round-up!

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I've been peeking into some of my favorite blogs and trying some new recipes from them. While I did not remember to take any pictures, I could not resist sharing the links with you:

1. Khara Buns from Shilpa: It started when the Daring Bakers took on Tender Potato Bread as their challenge this month. The King Arthur Flour Baker's Companion, a veritable textbook of baking, says that many traditional American bread recipes called for using cooked potato or potato water (the cloudy water left over from cooking potatoes) as an ingredient in the dough. This practice started before baker's yeast was commercially available, and the starch content of potato and potato water served to attract wild yeast from the air and provide them a nutritious buffet while the bugs went to work. The starch also keeps the baked bread moist by hanging on to water due to its hygroscopic nature. Today, even though we pour out yeast from handy little sachets, the starchy potato does help to feed the ravenous yeast and results in moist tender bread. Anyway, I watched wide-eyed as the foccacias, loaves and rolls were displayed on the Daring Baker blogs this month, but did not seriously think of trying out the recipe because it makes a *huge* batch. Then Shilpa came along and solved the problem for me: her khara (savory) buns use a scaled down version of the recipe that is just perfect for a small family, AND she converted the basic recipe into irresistible stuffed buns- the stuffing is the spicy onion filling that many of us love from bakeries in India. While no one in their right mind would call me either daring or a baker, I succumbed to the lure of the stuffed buns and tried the recipe. Shilpa gives detailed and precise instructions and I followed them as I closely as I could. I did add some peas and carrots to the filling to make it more substantial. The dough turned out to be the stickiest dough I have ever encountered. Part of it is that potato dough is sticky by nature and perhaps I aggravated it by using a little too much potato (2 small potatoes instead of a medium one) and water that was slightly more than 3/4 C. But by generously flouring my hands, I was able to manipulate the dough quite easily. It rose beautifully, and I turned it into 6 filled buns, served with a big bowl of tomato soup. This bread is unbelievable- the outside was crunchy and crisp and the inside was fluffy and soft. Every bite was a treat! Leftover buns reheat very well: I popped them into the toaster oven for 10 minutes the next day and they were crispy and delicious all over again. This potato bread is a keeper: next time, I will be using it to make pizza crusts.


2. Palak Kadhi from Musical: snowy, stormy weather simply screams out for the comfort of steamed rice with some kadhi, what could be loosely described as a curry that is often based on chickpea flour and buttermilk. Musical never fails to amaze me with her simple and flavorful fare, and this kadhi is no exception- it comes together in minutes, includes a healthy dose of greens, and feeds the body and soul all at once. The most delightful moment of making this kadhi came when I had tipped the four whole seeds (coriander, cumin, nigella and fenugreek) into hot oil along with the onions. At this moment, the aroma that wafted up was *exactly* and unmistakably what I associate with good Punjabi restaurants. Heavenly! I made the kadhi with frozen chopped spinach, being unable to go to the Farmers' market due to the storm, and it worked just fine. I think this kadhi is going to be a staple in our home all winter long.


3. Methi Mushroom Curry from Nandita: This is one recipe for those times when you are craving Indian restaurant-style curries. Kasuri methi is one ingredient that can really take home cooking to the next level with its unmistakable taste and aroma, in my humble opinion. Here, it is cooked with some juicy mushrooms and a thick onion-tomato gravy that is finished with some yogurt-besan paste to get it to just the right level of creaminess sans the cream. My minor changes to the recipe: I did not add mustard seeds to the tempering. I used more onions and tomatoes to make more of a curry for the dish. And I added a dash of my mom's magic masala (cloves, cinnamon, cardamom) at the end of cooking. This is absolutely delicious!

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My Daily Tiffin column for December: It's a Wrap.

Have a great week ahead!

Candy is Dandy...

...especially when you make it with your own two hands! And if you manage to find a good recipe, it can be quicker than liquor ;) Some of my cooking projects turn out to be like governmental panchavarshik yojana (5-year plans)- grand plans that may or may not ever materialize. This whole idea of learning to make candy at home has been only two years in the making. 

It all started when Cathy came to tea bearing a box of toffee, the recipe for which she had learnt from David Lebovitz in a cooking class. Cathy claimed that this candy was very easy to make, but when Cathy says things like that, I don't believe her for a second. This is a person who makes adorable felted bunnies and spins tea towels from scratch. She recently finished baking her way through an entire cookbook, bringing a new cookie in to her workplace nearly every Monday for 3 years. In short, Cathy is not your average person...not by a long shot. Turns out that she was not kidding about the candy, however. 

Soon after I tasted Cathy's candy, in an incredible stroke of luck, David Lebovitz posted that candy recipe on his blog, with a wonderful detailed post for wannabe candy-makers (read it carefully-twice-before attempting this candy). Apart from ingredients like sugar, butter, nuts and chocolate, the only investment this recipe needs is a candy thermometer to measure the temperature of the syrup and determine when it has been cooked to the right stage. 

What is candy? Cooked sugar, essentially. The simple things are always the most deceptive; candy-making is sheer physical chemistry, and pages 680-693 of Harold McGee's On Food and Cooking provide a fascinating glimpse into the science of candy (the number of pages giving an idea of how much technicality there is to discuss). 

Is a candy thermometer essential? No. The time-honored method of cooling the syrup quickly (in a bowl of cold water) and testing the stage (soft ball/hard ball/soft crack/hard crack...no I did not make these names up) works just fine. But a candy thermometer makes life a lot easier for the less experienced cook like me- having to judge the balls of syrup and making up your mind about the stage of the syrup while the rest of it is still boiling away can be stressful. I bought a sturdy-looking analog Pyrex candy thermometer for 8$ and it is well worth it.

(Note added in 2020: I am still using this very same candy thermometer and it is very useful for making yogurt at home, in addition to candy.)
 

Choco-Nut Buttercrunch Toffee

(adapted from David Lebovitz's recipe) 

1. Coarsely chop 2 C toasted nuts. I used pecans and almonds and chopped them in the food processor. For the next batch I will use 1.5 C nuts, use only almonds and chop them by hand; the food processor resulted in some nut powder and nut pieces that were quite uneven. 

 2. Lightly grease a 8x10 inch (or so) rectangle on a baking sheet. Spread half the chopped nuts on the sheet and leave the other half aside. 

 3. Chop 5 oz fair-trade bittersweet chocolate and set it aside. 

 4. Also place nearby coarse salt crystals (for sprinkling), 1/4 t baking soda and 1 t vanilla extract. 

5. In a medium heavy saucepan fitted with a candy thermometer, combine 1 stick (1/2 C) butter cut into small pieces, 1 1/4 C sugar, a dollop of molasses, a hefty pinch of salt and 2 T water. 

Heat with minimum or no stirring until the temperature reads 300F (hard crack stage). This took perhaps 10-15 minutes, and the syrup was at a great boil by that time, although it thankfully did not boil over the sides of the pan. 

6. Once the temp is reached, take syrup off the heat, stir in vanilla and baking soda and pour it all over the nuts on the baking sheet. I was thrilled that the syrup flowed very well and spread itself quite nicely. 

 7. Scatter the chocolate bits all over the syrup. Let them melt for a couple of minutes and then spread the chocolate all over with a table knife or spatula. 

 8. Sprinkle with coarse salt and the remaining nuts. Press the nuts in gently so that they will set into the chocolate. Let it cool down. After 1.5 hours, the chocolate had still not set so I put the sheet in the refrigerator for 15 minutes to help it along. Refrigerating the candy to set the chocolate was a bad idea because it caused the chocolate to look dull and "bloom". Just let the candy set at room temperature for several hours, even overnight (cover it) until the chocolate sets. 

The sheet of toffee can now be broken into bite-size pieces quite easily. 

Verdict: What can I say? This is some drop-dead amazing candy. It tastes exactly like the stuff that you buy for exorbitant sums of money from glassed-in confection palaces. If you like butterscotch, and if you were a fan of Cadbury's "nutties" with that irresistible center, this candy is for you. This candy is addictive. You have been duly warned. I owe you, Mr. Lebovitz. 

Next stop in Candyland: peanut chikki as soon as I can hack the dhep (mound) of jaggery into manageable chunks. Stay tuned! 

Me So Therapeutic!

One of my favorite things about living in the United States is the accessibility of ingredients from all corners of the globe. If the home cook so wishes, their pantry can be stocked with everything from chipotle to capers, tahini to tamari. I am taking my own sweet time getting to know and love some of these seasonings- and the joy that comes from hearing a distinctly foreign word, then taking the plunge and bringing a container home, picking it up and turning it around in my hands a little fearfully (hoping that the mere act of holding it will give me clues about how best to use it); until one day, when a recipe using this strange new thing becomes a "keeper" and the ingredient is now an old friend and certified pantry staple.

Miso has long been one of those food-words that I kept coming across but never quite understood. Until SusanV wrote a post about Double Mushroom Miso Soup that said, "Eat Me" rather boldly. It was time to get to know miso a little better. Miso is a traditional Japanese ingredient; a fermented paste of soybeans and grains. Like other fermented foods like idli batter and sourdough starter, it has that peculiar "assertive-yet-not-unpleasant" aroma (or perhaps "funky-yet-good"). For me, there are two reasons to get to know miso: (a) it brings wonderful savory flavor to food (the deep and hearty taste called "umami") and (b) it is known for its healthful properties, including a rich variety of trace minerals and vitamins. Read more about miso here and here.

So I took the plunge- bought a small tub of unpasteurized white miso (shiro miso, the mildest kind there is). Miso can be found in Japanese and Asian stores and in health food stores. I bought mine from the refrigerated section of Whole Foods. Although it is white miso, in practice it looks more brown than white. The trademark recipe that uses miso is Miso Soup and this was the very first thing I wanted to make.

From what I have learnt from books and blogs, here is the simplest way to make miso soup:
1. Heat some stock: it could be the traditional Japanese dashi made with seaweed and fish flakes, or, for vegetarians, any flavorful vegetable or mushroom stock (or made with seaweed alone).
2. Add vegetables of choice (or other ingredients like tofu) and simmer until cooked.
3. Add miso paste: Take some miso paste in a small bowl. Add some of that hot stock and dilute the paste, then add it to the soup pot. Reheat briefly and your miso soup is ready!

One of my favorite cookbooks, Laurel's Kitchen, says that traditional Japanese miso soups are composed of one main vegetable and two garnishing vegetables. The garnishing vegetables can be interpreted to include anything like cubes of tofu or lemon zest. Any vegetables like greens, mushrooms, zucchini will work fine. Unfettered by tradition, miso soups, of course, can be as diverse as the cook is imaginative. Some cooked brown rice or noodles would make the miso soup even more filling.

Mushroom Miso Soup

(makes 3-4 servings)
1. Heat 4 C of your favorite vegetarian stock (I make mine from "Better than Bouillon" stock concentrate) until it is simmering.
2. Add 2 C mushroom slices and 3 minced scallions (white parts) and simmer until the mushrooms are tender.
3. Remove a small amount of the hot stock into a bowl. Add 2 t white miso paste and stir it in to blend. Add the diluted miso paste back into the soup. Reheat for a couple of minutes and serve hot, garnished with scallions (green parts).

This soup is such a treat during winter! A cup of steaming hot miso soup just feels very nourishing and is very effective in banishing the winter blahs. During the cold months, I always feel like reaching for a hot beverage. All too often, that beverage is something caffeinated like tea or coffee. Miso soup can be easily made in single-serving sizes as an alternative hot beverage. Miso does have a fairly high sodium content, so you might want to use lower-sodium stock or dilute the stock with some water.

Want more miso soup?

Maki writes a beautifully illustrated and instructive guide to Traditional Miso Soup, including ways to make vegetarian dashi.

Jaden presents an illustrated guide to 10-minute miso soup.

Kevin has a dozen different variations on miso soup on his blog, including this Tofu and Wakame Miso Soup.

Finally, Elizabeth Andoh's beautiful essay about Mama's Miso Soup

Before December is over, I hope to make 2-3 more miso recipes, exploring it in ways other than soup. If you have a favorite way of using miso, I sure would appreciate knowing about it.

*** *** *** Menu for Hope *** *** ***
From today until 21st December, you have the opportunity to participate in the annual foodbloggers' fund-raising event, the Menu for Hope 4. $10 buys you a raffle ticket for one of dozens of mind-boggling prizes (expensive ingredients, must-have books, homemade goodies and so much more)...there is something here for everyone! Every cent of the money goes to a worthy cause, while the prizes have been donated by generous bloggers. Consider buying tickets as an unusual and thoughtful holiday gift for the people you love, and a couple for yourself too. You never know what you will win! Click here for all the details. Thank you for your generous donations.

Chocolate Birthday Cake

Birthday cake was the very first thing I learnt to make, and the very first recipe I knew by heart. My parents were big on homemade birthday cakes for their kids. At least two times a year (on the birthdays of my sister and myself), the big oven would get pulled out from the little storage room beneath the stairs and dusted off. Equal weights of eggs, butter (usually home-churned), sugar (powdered in the mixie) and flour (sifted with baking powder) were set out. Ritually, butter and sugar were creamed together with some vanilla essence. Beaten eggs and flour were added in tandem, a little at a time, until a thick and creamy batter emerged. The batter would get divided into two parts. One part got tutti frutti and chopped walnuts stirred into it, and the other got a few spoonfuls of cocoa powder. The two batters were dropped in random clumps into a cake pan lined with newspaper, and after a hour of baking, a random marbled cake emerged, with swirls of pale yellow and dark brown. Ocassionally, the birthday girl would request a more colorful cake, and then the batter would get divided into four, and two portions would get pink or green food coloring to result in a beautifully ribboned cake with swirls of pastel colors. This pound cake was an all-round favorite, and when I was in high school, my friends and I would bake the cake without supervision. Which is to say that I would bake, and everyone else would sit around and tell me to hurry up so that they could lick the spoons and bowls.

And this is why, to me, birthdays = birthday cake. There may be a party, or not. There may be presents, or not. But a homemade birthday cake made just for the birthday boy or girl is the stuff that is worth turning a year older for. Today, for V's birthday, here is what I made him: a layered chocolate cake with a raspberry filling and a ganache frosting.

The basic chocolate cake recipe came from The Art of Simple Food. In her book, Alice Waters gives several tips for turning out light and airy cakes, including-
1. Using cake flour for a more delicate result. Of course, if you live someplace where cake flour is not available, regular all-purpose flour (maida) can be used.
2. All ingredients should be at room temperature.
3. The first 5 minutes of baking are crucial, so it is important to have an oven that has been pre-heated for 10-15 minutes so that it is is properly warmed up.
4. Beating the sugar and butter together well to make an fluffy aerated mass.

Apart from the usual suspects- flour, butter, eggs, sugar and vanilla extract- this recipe calls for a double dose of chocolate- both cocoa powder and some melted chocolate in the batter. It also calls for some buttermilk. In Indian cuisine, buttermilk refers to either the liquid left over from churning butter, or to simple diluted yogurt. In the US, it refers to tangy thick cultured milk. One can buy liquid buttermilk in quart sizes but I recently took Lydia's advice and bought myself a tub of buttermilk powder. Now I can quickly make buttermilk as required. The most unusual (for me) "ingredient" in this cake is boiling water! Once the main ingredients have been mixed together, more than a cup of boiling water is added to make the batter. It feels downright bizarre to pour water into a cake batter. Unusual or not, it works.

This cake is moist, soft and absolutely chocolatey. I have been trying different recipes for chocolate cakes for several years, trying to find the one recipe that I really like and that I can use as my go-to chocolate cake recipe for making cupcakes, layer cakes and sheet cakes for all ocassions. I have found it!!!

Chocolate Cake

(Adapted from The Art of Simple Food by Alice Waters)
Ingredients (all at room temperature)
4 oz bittersweet chocolate
1/2 C (1 stick) butter
1 1/2 C sugar
2 t vanilla extract
3 large eggs
1/2 C buttermilk
1 1/4 C boiling water
To be sifted together
2 C cake flour (or all-purpose flour)
6 T cocoa powder
2 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
Method
0. Preheat the oven to 350F. Butter two round 8-inch cake pans, cover the bottom with a circle of parchment paper, butter it lightly, and coat the pans lightly with cocoa or flour.
1. Melt the chocolate: chop it coarsely, then microwave for 30 second bursts, stirring after each burst. It took me only a minute, or less to get this amount of chocolate melted. This can also be done in a double boiler.
2. In a large bowl, beat the butter until creamy. Add sugar and vanilla, and beat very well for 5-10 minutes until very light and fluffy.
3. Beat in the eggs one at a time.
4. Stir in the melted chocolate.
5. Stir in half the dry mixture.
6. Stir in the buttermilk.
7. Stir in the rest of the dry mixture. At this point, the batter was so thick that it was more like a dough. Hang on.
8. Slowly, stir in the boiling water until it is just incorporated. Now you will have a smooth and glossy batter.
9. Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick comes clean. Cool completely before frosting.

Frosting: The cake tastes wonderful just as it is, but adding some frosting is, well, the icing on the cake (apparently we need more metaphors for this phenomenon). Buttercream frosting does look beautiful on cakes, especially if you do some fancy piping. I can't stand to eat it, however, and decided to frost the cake with some ganache- cream and chocolate whisked together to a thick dreamy paste. One could also use plain sweetened whipped cream for this cake- it is chocolatey enough to stand up to that. For the ganache, chop 4 oz chocolate (bittersweet or milk chocolate or any combination of those). Heat 1/2 C heavy cream in a small saucepan nearly to boiling point, then pour it over the chocolate. Let it stand for 5 minutes, then whisk together. The 1:1 proportion of chocolate to cream is important because if you add too much cream, the result will be runny and not a frosting at all (been there, done that, won't be making that mistake again).

Filling: I love the combination of fruit and chocolate and decided on a classic raspberry filling for this cake. I used this raspberry filling recipe from Smitten Kitchen (halved the recipe, but in the end I needed only half of the halved recipe). Except that I was too lazy to strain the seeds out of the pureed raspberries and just left them in (apologizing mentally to the people who are going to eat this cake and will just have to deal with a mouthful of raspberry seeds). Next time, I will definitely strain the puree. Or just buy some raspberry preserves and use them instead.

Assembling the cake: First, I turned out the cooled cakes from the cake pans and gently used a knife to remove the "dome" of the cakes to make even layers. This is going to take me some practice but is not that difficult. An assembled layer cake is difficult to move around, and I found it easy to assemble the cake right on the surface where I was planning to serve it. To keep the surface clean, tear some paper towels/parchment paper into four strips and place them in a square on the surface, then place the cake on these strips. Place one layer on the surface, spread with a layer of filling; not to thick or it will ooze out and make a mess. Then the second layer, then slather with the ganache. I did my best to do a neat job but it was still ...umm...let's call it shabby chic. Garnish with fresh raspberries if desired. The extra ganache/crumbs will drop on these strips. Once the cake is frosted, the strips can be gently pulled out, leaving a clean surface behind.

Happy Birthday, my love!


Have a sweet weekend, everyone!

Pumpkin Amti

This is my contribution to the Jihva for Ingredients event, originally started by Indira of Mahanandi and being hosted this month by one of my favorite bloggers- Linda of Out of the Garden. With her incredible posts about "chaar yaar" wali khichdi (khichdi and its "four friends"...can you guess who they are?) and her penchant for sambar, it is not too surprising that I think of Linda as simply a fellow Indian. She certainly knows more about (and cares more about) Indian food that many passport-bearing Indians I know. Exhibit A: for the theme, Linda has chosen the "unassuming yet illustrious" Toor Dal.

In many regions of India, including Maharashtra, toor dal is the star of the pantry. If I were to pare my pantry down to the basic minimum items, toor dal would certainly be the one dal left there. It is my to-go dal for three major dishes that are part of default meals- Amti, Varan and Sambar (the first two are classics that I grew up eating everyday; the last is something I use as a vehicle for all kinds of vegetables).

For this event, I turned to a fairly comprehensive reference for Maharashtrian cuisine- the two-volume Ruchira by Kamalabai Ogale. Among some interesting recipes like pancharas amti (with mixed vegetables, cashews and coconut) and karlyache varan (dal with bitter gourd), I found something that looked seasonal and inviting: laal bhoplyachi amti or Pumpkin Amti.

My first thought on reading this recipe was- wow, there is a lot going on here! Different recipes use various tricks for thickening and flavoring dals: some might use buttermilk, some might use ground-up nuts, others might use a chickpea paste, or have a coconut paste mixed in. This recipe has all this and much more!! I was pretty certain that in the end, the flavors of all these individual ingredients would not come through in the dal, and sure enough, they didn't. But I am not complaining about the result either: it was a tasty and creamy dal happily interrupted with chunks of sweet pumpkin.

I don't often buy pumpkins because it is not very easy to cut and peel the pumpkin. This time, for the sake of this recipe, I took the plunge. I bought a small pie pumpkin (more flavorful for cooking, compared to the giant ones sold for carving). Using a chef's knife, I was able to hack it into two, from stem to tip. Then I stuck the halves into the microwave and cooked them for 8-10 minutes, until they were nearly tender. Once cooled, I found that it was relatively easy to peel off the skin and cut them into cubes.

Pumpkin Amti

(adapted from Ruchira by Kamalabai Ogale)
Ingredients:
1/2 C toor dal, soaked for 15 minutes, rinsed well, then cooked until tender
2 C pumpkin cubes- raw, par-cooked or cooked (but not mushy)
salt to taste
Paste
1/2 C buttermilk (or slightly diluted yogurt)
2 T besan (chickpea flour)
2 T crushed toasted peanuts (coarse powder)
1/4 C grated fresh/frozen coconut
2 fresh/frozen green chillies (or to taste)
1 t cumin seeds
Tempering
1 T oil
1 t mustard seeds
1/4 t turmeric
1/4 t fenugreek seeds
8-10 fresh curry leaves
Method:
1. Make a thick paste of the ingredients listed under "paste" and set it aside.
2. Heat the oil and add all the tempering ingredients, stirring for a few seconds until fragrant.
3. Add the pumpkin cubes, stir them to coat with the spices. If the pumpkin is raw or par-cooked, add 1/4 C water, cover and cook until it is tender.
4. Stir in the paste and the cooked dal, salt to taste, and some water if the dal appears too thick.
5. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 5-10 minutes. Serve with steamed rice and some pickle or papad on the side.

I wanted a simple vegetable dish to go with the amti-bhaat and took the laziest way out: I made some faux Flower-Batata Bhaaji. My favorite part of simple braised Indian vegetables are the burnt bits stuck to the bottom of the pan. This was a way to roast the vegetables with some spices to make an imitation bhaaji that practically cooked itself.

1. Lightly oil a large baking tray. Preheat the oven to 425F.
2. Chop 3 medium potatoes to medium-sized cubes or "fingers" (peel the potatoes only if the skin looks too blemished or thick). Cut about 3-4 cups of bite-sized cauliflower florets.
3. Toss the prepared vegetables with 2 T olive oil, salt, turmeric, red chilli powder, cumin powder and coriander powder (all to taste). I did not add mustard seeds or curry leaves, buy they would have added to the taste too. Or ginger or garlic. Whatever flavor you are craving at the moment would work, basically!
4. Spread the vegetables on the baking sheet in a single layer or so, and bake for 30-35 minutes or until the vegetables are tender (test with the tip of a small knife) and browning in parts.
5. Remove from oven, toss with the juice of 1/2 lemon and liberally garnish with minced cilantro.

***** ***** ******
Starting this month, I am trying two new features on this blog-

1. Project of the month: There are so many things that I love eating but that I have never tried to cook at home. In most cases, it is because I have some notion that these are challenging to make at home (which may be true, or not). In some cases, I have just not gotten around to doing it. This is my way of tackling them one at a time. This month's project is to make candy from scratch in my kitchen. I have decided on a recipe from a very respected source, and have a candy thermometer on my shopping list. Watch this blog to see if I am able to make candy successfully this month!

2. Flavor of the month: In the same vein, there are many ingredients/cuisines/cooking techniques that I would love to spend some time exploring. Identifying one a month will give me more a chance to do that. This month's flavor is miso, fermented soybean paste that is widely used in Japanese cuisine. I hope to explore different ways to use this healthful and flavorful ingredient over the course of this month.

If you have suggestions for future "projects" or "flavors", or suggestions about the current ones, your ideas are always welcome. I will be updating these on the right side-bar on the 1st of every month.

Have a wonderful week ahead, everyone!

Announcing the "Best of 2007" Event

The end of the year compels a lot of people to take stock of the past 12 months. To think of the highs and the lows and the moments that will go down in their life history as THE moments that defined the year. It compels people to start making lists, and all kinds of year in review lists will appear in the media- best books, best movies, most news-worthy moments, sports records that were broken...the list goes on and on!

My blogging style is more of a write-it-and-forget-it (I almost never to go back and read my own posts) and I thought that December might be a nice time to go back and browse my archives and see what my own favorite recipes and posts of the year have been. Then I thought- wait, I want to know the "Year's Favorites" of other blogs too! There are so many excellent food blogs around, and it can be quite challenging to keep track of all the exciting stuff that goes on. A Best of 2007 post be simply be a great way to see the blogger's favorite food moments of the year: what recipes were the most challenging? What new recipes made it to the regular dinner rotation? What dishes will still be remembered in 2017? What are your plans for the coming year? It will be a behind-the-scenes look into the blog.

And so, dear fellow bloggers, I cordially invite you to participate in this one-off, low-maintenance (no cooking/photo/recipe required!) food blog event. Browse through your archives, think of the year that just flew by and write your own Best of 2007 post highlighting the very best that your blog had to offer this year. You can write about anything you like- these are just some thoughts to get you started.

1. Top 5 recipes of the year/Top 10 recipes of the year


2. Best dish from each month


3. Top 10 list of recipes made from other bloggers


4. Best meal(s) of 2007


5. Favorite new techniques/ingredients/gadgets/websites/restaurants discovered in 2007


6. Best posts (in terms of writing)/ favorite food photographs of the year


7. "Cooking resolutions" for 2008- what is next for you and your blog? Give us a sneak peek!

I will post the round-up on January 1, 2008- to celebrate a brand new year of food blogging!

Guidelines
1. Write your post by 30th December 2007. Feel free to use either of the two logos.
2. In your post, include a link to this announcement.
3. E-mail me the link to your post (my e-mail address is in my profile) with the subject line "Best of 2007".
4. If I don't reply to your mail within 2 days, leave me a comment so I can go hunt down your entry!

What do you think of this event? Would it be fun to participate? Would it be fun to read the entries? Feedback, comments and questions are always welcome! Have a good weekend, everyone.

Spicy Cauliflower Soup

Can you believe 2007 is almost over?! It is a little shocking to know that the very last month of the year is only a couple of days away (especially because I still catch myself writing 2006 as the year...I know...I am a little slow on the uptake). It has been a very enjoyable year for me, in terms of cooking. This year, much more than past years, I have had a lot more time to indulge myself in reading cookbooks, trying new recipes, and learning some new techniques along the way. A few days ago, I received a review copy of a cookbook that promises to teach me much more about home cooking.

The book is called "The Art of Simple Food" by Alice Waters. The tag-line of the book reads "Notes, Lessons, and Recipes from a Delicious Revolution" and it is indeed a revolution that Alice Waters is credited with bringing about. A movement away from processed and canned (in more ways than one) food that was (is?) so heavily marketed in the country, and towards appreciating food for what it is really is- a joy, not a burden. To see an example of Waters' work, take a look at the Edible Schoolyard project in a school in Berkeley, California, where the school's curriculum revolves around working in the school garden; learning the sensory joys of cooking and gardening; tasting real food from an early age.

The back cover of the book lists nine fundamental guidelines that the book is based on. Simple statements like "Cook together", "Eat together" and "Remember food is precious" that seem so fundamental, but unfortunately, are not that basic in our lives any more. I read all those lines, and thought to myself: as a child growing up in middle class India, most of these principles were very much a part of our lives. It is good to be reminded of them from time to time.

What I really love about this book is that it does not teach you to cook ABC or XYZ so much as it simply teaches you to cook. Waters is a patient and methodical teacher, laying the foundation of cooking in the first part of the book and devoting the second half of the book to a bounty of recipes for every course of the meal. For instance, the section of cake elaborates on the principles underlying the conversion of flour, eggs, butter and sugar into an airy dessert, then gives a versatile cake recipe and suggestions for turning it into a layer cake, a sheet cake, cupcakes etc. Each recipe has ideas for variations, reinforcing the fact that once you know the technique and principles, you hardly even need a recipe to cook simple meals. Over a few years of regular cooking, I am learning principles of Indian cooking to some extent, but a cookbook such as this one is wonderful for learning some classic "Western" recipes. I often find myself flipping through voluminous cookbooks, gazing at lovely photographs but barely coming across even one recipe that I really want to try. This one does not have a single photograph of a prepared dish (some lovely ink illustrations are certainly found here) but I found a dozen recipes that I am very eager to try.

The first recipe I tried from this book is Spicy Cauliflower Soup. This is one versatile vegetable that seems to find its way into my shopping bag nearly every week. In this home, cauliflower seems to be cooked repetitively in a few favorite ways- some naughty, some nice, and then, the delicious but predictable roasted cauliflower. I have been meaning to try other avatars of this cruciferous beauty, and this soup jumped up as an unusual (for me) way of cooking it. Besides, I spotted it on the menu of Waters' Chez Panisse Cafe- it is very unlikely that I will be eating there any time soon, so here is my chance to taste a little bit of that place virtually.

This simple soup is jazzed up with familiar spices: the toasted coriander and cumin (I used a mortar and pestle to crack the spices) add a burst of flavor and texture. Turmeric adds a subtle tinge and warmth to the soup. The soup calls for any combination of broth and water. I never have vegetable broth on hand, and don't usually get around to making my own (don't use it often enough, basically). I used to just substitute water in recipes that called for stock, but have recently started using a stock base that I really like. It is a brand called "Better Than Bouillon" and they have several vegetarian bases. I must say the stock adds to the depth of flavor in this soup.

Spicy Cauliflower Soup

(adapted from The Art of Simple Food by Alice Waters, makes about 6 servings)
Ingredients:
1 medium head of cauliflower, trimmed and florets coarsely chopped
1 onion, peeled and cubed
1 carrot, peeled and cubed
2 T olive oil
1 t cracked roasted coriander seeds
1 t cracked roasted cumin seeds
1/2 t turmeric
pinch of red pepper flakes
salt
pepper
1/4 C chopped cilantro
3 cups stock (see note above)
2 cups water
juice of 1/2 lemon
Method:
1. In a heavy pot, heat the olive oil and add onion, carrot, coriander, cumin, turmeric, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper to taste.
2. Cook on medium heat, stirring often, until the vegetables are very soft and the spices are toasted and fragrant.
3. Add the cilantro and cauliflower florets and stir for a minute more.
4. Add stock and water, bring to a boil, and then simmer, covered, until the cauliflower is tender. This took me about 15 minutes or so.
5. Use a blender (I use a stick blender) to partially blend the soup to a puree. If you prefer a coarser stew, just mash the florets with a wooden spoon and skip the blender. Stir in the lemon juice.

I served the soup with a delicious parmesan-crusted khakra-esque flatbread cracker. A crunchy accompaniment like crackers or croutons would go beautifully with this soup. Alice Waters suggests a garnish of yogurt, chopped mint and lime juice for each serving. I had no yogurt or mint on hand when I made this soup, but won't be skipping these delightful garnishes the next time I make this. I'm glad to have found yet another flavorful way to serve a beloved vegetable!

A hearty soup like this one is the perfect antidote to long dark winter evenings.

For more tips on staying active and cheerful through this season, check out my November Daily Tiffin column: Brightening the Winter Blues.

Cranberry-Date Chutney

This Thanksgiving, I tried to incorporate some typical North American ingredients into the menu. These are foods that I have tasted only after living here in the United States, and have grown to love. The chocolate pecan pie on the menu was studded with pecans and dripping with maple syrup. The third North American ingredient was cranberries. I've been hooked onto dried sweetened cranberries for a few years (as a munchable snack), but cooked with fresh seasonal cranberries for the first time- making this date and cranberry chutney. Date and tamarind chutney, with its irresistible interplay of sweet and sour flavors, is a perennial favorite in our home, and it seemed quite natural to swap out tamarind in my usual recipe and try a version with tart cranberries.

Cranberries are a delight to cook with. At first glance, these berries looked so firm that I imagined it might take a while to cook them. Not so. Within minutes of being heated up, the ruby-like berries collapse into a fragrant pulp. The color, aroma and taste of the cooking cranberries strongly reminded me of fresh kokum, that incredible fruit from the Konkan coast of Western India (but I have made fresh kokum sarbat many times growing up and do know that it looks nothing like cranberries, being a lot larger in size and containing a pit).

I spiked the chutney with crushed cumin and red pepper flakes to add some savory flair. The natural pectin in cranberries helped this chutney set to a perfect thickness, especially since I made it the day before and let it sit in the refrigerator overnight. The dates I used were sweet enough that it needed no extra sugar. This chutney- a nutritious combination of antioxidant-rich cranberries and fiber-rich dates is a keeper! I can't wait to serve it with dhokla and on papdi chaat...

Cranberry Date Chutney

1. In a small saucepan, combine 1 C fresh cranberries (rinsed, with the mushy ones picked out and discarded), 1 C chopped, seeded dates, 1 C water and salt to taste. If you like sweeter chutney, you could add some jaggery or raw sugar at this point.
2. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 12-15 minutes, covered, until berries are soft and mushy. Some of the cranberries exploded with a small pop, so watch out!
3. Turn off the heat, then stir in 1/2 t toasted, crushed cumin seeds and a hefty pinch of red pepper flakes (or to taste).
4. Blend to a puree, then taste. Adjust the balance of flavors if necessary.

I served this bright sweet-tart chutney with some spicy vegetable puffs. It was an attempt to replicate those gloriously flaky veggie puffs from bakeries in India- I wolfed these down in vast numbers as a college student. The idea was to make a tasty filling of vegetables held together with cooked potato and to stuff it into readymade pastry dough (ultra-thin sheets of dough separated by some fat like butter or oil) and bake the puffs to a golden finish- quick and easy. What threw a metaphorical spanner in the works was the fact that I forgot that puff pastry and phyllo dough, as sold in stores, are not the same thing. Sure, both consist of paper-thin sheets of dough, but puff pastry is already layered with buttered, ready to be rolled out and filled. Phyllo dough is sold in sheets which need to be brushed painstakingly with butter/oil as they are folded and filled (while being kept covered and damp or they go brittle and unusable on your a**). Well, I came home with phyllo dough, and did not enjoy working with it too much. I suppose on some day when I was taking it on as a luxurious culinary project, it might have been different. On Thanksgiving day, with a bustling kitchen and guests arriving soon- not so much fun. In the end, I made it through and produced a platter of a couple dozen crispy puffs, and grudgingly agreed that, yes, they tasted great. Especially with this delicious chutney!

I'm sending this chutney over to Chandrika for the AFAM: Dates event.

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This is a common scene from our home. One minute, Dale is playing with his rope toy. The next, he is fast asleep; his dark fur warming in the morning sunshine. He is the Shah of Slumber, the Sultan of Snooze.


Have a great week ahead, everyone!

Mashed Sweet Potatoes

Our Thanksgiving Menu

(Gourd candles inspired by Susan, the food blogga)

Vegetable Puffs with Cranberry-Date Chutney (recipe coming soon)
Olive Crostini
Spicy Cauliflower Soup (recipe coming soon)
Garlic-Scented Mashed Sweet Potatoes (recipe below)
Wild Mushroom Lasagna
Chocolate Pecan Pie

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I'm looking for excuses to make sweet potatoes any old day of the year, and of course this gorgeous vegetable had to be on the menu today! Originally, I planned on making simple roasted sweet potatoes with a savory spice rub. At pretty much the last minute (the morning of), I realized that I had too many dishes that were competing for space in the oven/broiler, and frantically searched for a simple stove-top sweet potato recipe that called for ingredients that I had on hand. The one that I found wowed me at first glance- it does NOT call for butter or cream (one glance at that menu, and it is clear why there was no need for any more butter), and instead uses an unusual ingredient-a little coconut milk- to make creamy mashed sweet potatoes that are elevated to deliciousness with a little garlic. The source of the recipe says it all- it comes from the folks at Cook's Illustrated, and I got the recipe from the NPR site (scroll down to the middle of the page and look at the second variation on the mashed sweet potato recipe). This recipe is divinely vegan as well.

Garlic-Scented Mashed Sweet Potatoes

(adapted from this Cook's Illustrated recipe)
1. I started with washing and peeling 6 small-medium sized sweet potatoes (probably between 2-3 lbs in total weight). Then I cut the sweet potatoes into chunks and placed them in a saucepan.
2. To the sweet potatoes, I added 2/3 cup coconut milk (from a well-shaken can), salt and pepper, 2 cloves finely minced garlic and a hefty pinch of red pepper flakes (I skipped the sugar).
3. I covered the pan and cooked everything over low heat, stirring every few minutes, until the sweet potatoes were fork tender, then used a hand-held masher to puree the sweet potatoes gently.

These simply-prepared sweet potatoes were a treat! I could make this dish a few hours earlier and reheat it easily in the microwave (adding a little water) just before serving.

Other sweet potato recipes on my to-try list:
1. Chipotle Sweet Potatoes
2. Spinach Sweet Potato Cake
3. Sweet Potato Gnocchi

Do you have a favorite sweet potato recipe to recommend? Leave me a comment, thank you!

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As I prepared the Thanksgiving meal, I realized that my kitchen is a rare and magical place. In most of the world, cooking starts with walking miles for water, gathering firewood, painstakingly lighting a smoky fire. In my magical kitchen, I turn on the faucet and gallons of water comes gushing out in an endless stream. I flick my wrist to heat a huge oven, or conjure a bright blue flame out of thin air. I throw open one door, and see boxes of grains, tubs of beans, rows of spices. I fling open another door, and cool air blasts out and reveals bins of fresh fruits and vegetables. I tap a finger, and brights lights turn on, allowing me to cook any time of day or night. For this abundance, and this privilege, and for my miraculous kitchen- I am utterly grateful.

Fall Favorite: Chili and Cornbread

Suganya is celebrating a month of Vegan Ventures on her blog. One of my favorite fall dinners just happens to be vegetarian chili, which happens to be vegan, and I teamed it up with some vegan cornbread to make a satisfying Southwest-US inspired supper.

A few weeks ago, there was a chili cook-out at my workplace. A few folks who enjoyed cooking brought big crock-pots of chili, some others brought cornbread muffins and sweet goodies. All of this food was sold over lunchtime and the modest sum of money collected was handed over to a breast cancer organization. It was a lot of fun, and a nice way to do some small-time fundraising while enjoying a variety of home-cooked food. I make chili quite often during the cold months, but wanted to try something different, so I took this chipotle-"meatball" chili to the cook-off, and everyone enjoyed it. It sold out, and I was surprised and relieved, because this is Missouri, after all. Today I made the exact same chili again and decided to post it here so I won't forget the recipe a few months from now! This chili definitely tastes much better a day after it is made. It is perfect for a make-ahead dish to feed a crowd.

Here are the main components of this hearty chili:
1. Beans: I chose to use a combination of red kidney beans (apna rajma) and Dominican red beans. The latter are a pretty new addition to my pantry. When Indosungod wrote this post and said, "When cooked they tasted a lot like boiled peanuts", I practically ran out and bought a bag of these cute pink-white beans (I found it in the Mexican section of the store- Goya brand). I love the taste of these beans and use them quite often now. Pinto beans and black beans would also work well in this recipe.
2. Soy meatballs- I buy them from the frozen section. The meatballs soak up the delicious stew and simply melt in the mouth.
3. Vegetables: Onions and peppers feel like natural additions to this chili. But I omitted green peppers and only used the ripe sweeter ones- yellow, orange, red- here. I added carrots and yellow squash for more juicy vegetable goodness. If I were not serving this chili with cornbread, I would have added some corn kernels as well. Zucchini and eggplant would also be tasty here.
4. Tomato puree, as a base.
5. Chipotle peppers in adobo: These are smoked Mexican chillies (jalapenos) preserved in a spicy sauce.
These can be found in cans wherever Mexican foods are sold. Once the can is opened, I transfer the contents to a glass bottle and use the flavorful chipotles (and their sauce) over several months.
6. In several chili recipes, I came across "secret ingredients" being mentioned in conspirational whispers. A small amount of cinnamon or unsweetened cocoa powder really does bring out deep flavors in the chili!

Chipotle Chili

1. Heat 1 T olive oil in a large pot/ Dutch oven.
2. Saute 4-5 cloves minced garlic until translucent but not browned.
3. Saute 1 large onion, 1 medium carrot, 2 red/yellow/orange peppers, 1 yellow squash (all cut in large dice).
4. Stir in cooked beans (from 1 C dried beans), 2 C tomato puree, salt, 1 t cumin powder, 2 minced chipotle chillies and 2 t adobo sauce (or to taste), 1/2 t cinnamom (or cocoa powder).
5. Add 2 C water (or to desired consistency), bring to a boil, then simmer for 20 minutes. Add 1 packet (1 lb) thawed vegan "meatballs" and simmer for 5 more minutes. Eat the next day, when the flavors really come together!

While a lot of people love eating chili on its own, I enjoy it best with some carbs (what else is new?)...either some Spanish rice, or some couscous, a corn tortilla, or some cornbread. I found a recipe for an award-winning vegan cornbread that looked delicious, and it had a delightfully short ingredient list too! There are two ingredients in this recipe that also are relative newcomers to my kitchen.

The first is ground flaxseeds. This was the first time I used flaxseeds as an egg substitute in baking, and I am very impressed. When mixed into hot water, this powder really takes on the viscous nature of beaten eggs! I often get comments and e-mails from bakers seeking to make eggless baked goodies, and I definitely suggest that they should play around with flaxseed powder- it is known to work well in many recipes. The second ingredient is cornmeal. I am happy to have found this whole-grain medium-grind cornmeal (this brand) because most cornmeal has the germ removed and is consequently less nutritious. I skipped the sugar in the cornbread because the almond milk was already sweetened. The sweetish note in the cornbread is delicious. The addition of sweet corn kernels and aromatic green onions makes the cornbread even tastier.

Cornbread

(Adapted from this recipe, makes 16 squares)
1. Preheat oven to 425F.
2. In a small saucepan, heat 6 T water, then stir in 2 T ground flaxseeds until the paste becomes viscous. Set aside.
3. In a bowl, combine the dry ingredients:
1 C AP flour (or white whole-wheat flour or whole wheat pastry flour, or some combination of these)
1 C cornmeal
2 t baking powder
1 t salt
4. To the dry ingredients, add and mix
flaxseed paste
1/4 C oil (I used olive, but canola or another neutral oil is recommended)
1 C almond milk (or rice milk or soymilk)
5. Stir in the extra ingredients
1/2 C corn kernels (frozen, thawed)
3 green onions, minced (green and white parts)
5. Pour the batter into a greased 8x8 inch baking dish, then bake for 20-25 minutes, until an inserted toothpick comes clean. Serve warm.

Serve piping hot chili with warm cornbread, garnished with green onions or cilantro, if desired.


Next time, I plan to make a chili casserole, by pouring warm chili into a baking dish, topping with cornbread batter and then baking the whole thing. That would be a delicious way to serve this combination, I imagine.

Stay warm, and a Happy Thanksgiving to all my friends in the USA, who will enjoy a Thanksgiving feast, good times with family and friends, and a couple of days off!

For a tempting array of vegan recipes, from appetizers to desserts and everything in between, go visit Suganya's round-up.

Pasta Pastimes...

...or Using Your Noodle.

Two games to play on a rainy afternoon, using dried pasta from the pantry. Once you are done playing with your food, you can eat it for dinner!

Tic Tac Toe

Tic Tac Toe (known to many as "noughts and crosses") was played here using whole wheat spaghetti to set up the board and some calypso blend pasta as the pieces. Anyone remember playing this game with a friend at the back of the lecture hall in Junior college?

Pick-Up Sticks

This is a very neat game I played with my cousins for hours on end. It is called Pick-Up Sticks and various other names like that. You hold a handful of thin sticks (usually made of wood or plastic, but dried long pasta is an awesome substitute) in your hand, then drop them on a surface. Then you try and pick up sticks one at a time as carefully as you can without disturbing the other sticks. You lose your turn when any other stick in the pile moves. This is a game of dexterity, skill and concentration- way more fun than you would imagine from such a simple set up. It is one of those timeless games that helped my aji keep a giggle of granddaughters occupied during hot summer afternoons, decades after she used the same faded box of sticks to keep her own kids busy during their summer vacations. Read more about this game here.

The first picture is being sent to Jugalbandi's Click: Noodles event, just for fun!

Lights...Camera...Diwali!

Images of our small Diwali celebrations this weekend...

A Diwali-themed Fabric Mural

This gorgeous mural was created as a unique gift for me by my two aunts and a cousin. It is a mixed-media collage: oil painting interspersed with bits of fabric, paper and scraps of embroidery and jewelry. It shows all the small touches that make Diwali so special: the kandeel or lantern in the top left which decorates the entrance of a home, the tulsi vrindavan or "home of the holy basil plant" which is lit with an oil lamp, a depiction of us girls celebrating with new festive clothes (I assure you that I have never worn an outfit quite like this; let's just call it their artistic license!), the tiny panati or diyaas or lamps that are lit around the home to symbolise this "festival of lights", the auspicious string of marigolds and mango leaves at the doorway shows at the top, and the colorful floor decoration called rangoli, made traditionally with colored powders (depicted by the diamond at the bottom of the panel). My aunts told me, "We know how much you adore dogs, so we put a little puppy in the picture just for you!" hence the little happy pooch in the bottom left :D If you wish to see details on this mural, click on the picture and see the higher resolution files in flickr.

Our makeshift lantern:


A friend and I got together, and with very little expertise (but a generous dose of enthusiasm to compensate), made a few sweet and savory goodies. I want to thank my fellow bloggers for sharing easy and detailed recipes for these sweets and savories, which made it possible for novices like us to give them a try:
Tikhat Shankarpale or spicy diamonds, inspired by Swapna


Cornflakes chivda, inspired by The Cooker




Besan Ladoo or Chickpea Flour Sweets, inspired by Nandita


Kaju Kathli or Cashew Diamonds, inspired by Saffron Hut


Pineapple Sheera


Carrot RicottaHalwa, inspired by Rajitha


Can you guess what it is? Hint: it is NOT a popular antacid!


Dale wants you to see his new Diwali scarf...


We celebrated Diwali on the weekend rather than on the official day, so my greetings come a little late- but with all my heart nonetheless...

Wishing all my friends, fellow bloggers and readers a very

Joyous Diwali

and a hope that a central theme of Diwali- the triumph of good over evil (and the triumph of good over apathy, perhaps?) comes true for the world we live in.

Recipe SOS: Thai-inspired Croquettes

It all started when Susan V., she of that sinlessly delicious blog, made croquettes with Thai flavors using pumpkin as a base for these little morsels. The taste of the pumpkin in this dish was all wrong to her, and the recipe needed some urgent help to rescue it from the failed-recipes bin. Susan called out for some emergency edible care by asking:

And thus was born this contest. I brainstormed a bit to think of all the main ingredients that would go well with Thai flavors. One of my favorite accompaniments with fragrant Thai curries is steamed rice and one of my favorite vegetables in the curry itself, soaking up rich coconut flavors, is eggplant and these were the two ingredients that I substituted for the pumpkin.

To cook the eggplant, I peeled and cubed it, then microwave-cooked it for about 6-7 minutes, stirring evert 2 minutes. Then I used a fork to mash the eggplant. I substituted cilantro for the basil in the recipe because that is what I had on hand. I used a pan to cook these on the stove-top because I didn't want to heat up the whole oven for this fairly small batch.

Here is my experiment: Thai-inspired Croquettes:

Ingredients:
1 C green beans, trimmed and sliced
1 C cooked eggplant puree
1/2 C cooked rice (white or brown)
1/2 C cilantro
3 T soy sauce
1 T Thai red curry paste
1 T. grated lemon zest
1 t brown sugar
1/4 t freshly ground black pepper
1 t ground flax seed
2 t cornstarch
Method:
Place the green beans and basil into a food processor and pulse to chop coarsely (do not puree!). Pour into a bowl and add all remaining ingredients. Stir well to mix everything. Form into small patties. Cook the patties on an oil-sprayed pan until golden on both sides.

Serve with the delicious dipping sauce from Susan.

These were delicious! Next time I might consider pre-cooking the beans until tender before proceeding with the recipe. Thanks for the opportunity to play with this recipe and have some fun, Susan! It is going to be fun to see what everyone comes up with.

A Sweet Snack, a Savory Snack and a Sweet Sweet Party Idea

I was in a holiday mood yesterday. Last year, at this time, my life was a nightmare of 18 hours a day spent writing and editing a thesis. This year, I am determind to make up for it by celebrating every holiday and festival that comes my way! All this coming week, I will be making sweets for Diwali, but today, it is a cookie.

Biscotti are traditional Italian cookies, and the name refers to the fact that these are bakes twice. The dough is first patted into a log, baked until it is about half-cooked, then sliced diagonally into long cookies that are baked again until they are dry and crisp. Traditional bicotti are made from simple ingredients such as flour, sugar and eggs, with an almond and anise flavor (the latter has a flavor similar to fennel/saunf). Biscotti is very hard; a cookie definitely designed for dunking (into sweet wine or espresso, traditionally) rather than just eating out of hand.

Like all other traditional recipes, people like to take the concept and run with it, coming up with all kinds of variations. The recipe I used is a decadent one- full of chocolate and walnuts. This recipe also calls for some butter, and results in a cookie that is soft enough to eat on its own, although it is still delightful when dunked! I used a recipe from Epicurious and, as a trial attempt, halved the recipe to make a dozen biscotti.

Chocolate-Walnut Biscotti

(Adapted from this recipe from Epicurious, makes about 12 biscotti)
1. In a medium bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients:
1 C AP flour
1/4 C unsweetened cocoa powder (I use a fair-trade brand)
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
2. In another bowl, cream together...
3 T soft unsalted butter
1/3 C sugar
3. Beat in 1 egg into the butter-sugar mixture.
4. Stir in the dry ingredients to make the dough. Add 1/2 C toasted chopped walnuts and a handful of chocolate chips (or chopped chocolate).
5. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Pat the dough into a log, place on a greased baking sheet and bake for about 20-25 minutes or until firm to the touch.
6. Cool for 5 minutes, then transfer to a cutting board and cut into diagonal slices using a serrated knife. At this point, the log can start crumbling, so be careful not to overbake it.
7. Lay the slices on the baking sheet and re-bake for 10-15 minutes on each side or until they are dry. They will become fully crispy as they cool down.

The result was a delicious cookie that was chocolatey to the core! I'm sending the biscotti over to Zlamushka for the Spoonful of Christmas event. This event is all about making and giving home-made food gifts. Biscotti makes a great gift because it is a cookie with a longer shelf life than most other cookies (it does not have much moisture). Place biscotti in a bag, tie it with a beautiful ribbon and these crunchy cookies are all set to make someone's day!

For a gorgeous collection of sweet and savory gift ideas from the kitchen, go visit Zlamushka's round-up.

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I am a little bit of a snack addict. OK, I am ALL snack addict- I might as well face facts. Here is a snack I often fix for myself in the evenings when the snack cravings really attack. Making popcorn from scratch results in no trash (as opposed to the mountain of packaging from the microwave popcorn bags), takes about 5 minutes from start to finish, costs pennies per serving (even though I use organic corn), and gives me a serving of whole grain and some fiber. Apart from that heavenly popcorn aroma that just makes my mouth water in a classic Pavlovian response. I use a microwave simply because mine is a powerful one that does a beautiful job of making popcorn, but it can be made just as easily on the stove top. I remember eating popcorn flavored with salt and turmeric in Indian movie theatres (but V says he has never tasted popcorn with turmeric, so I am a little confused and wondering if my memory is playing tricks). One could flavor popcorn with just about anything in the spice cabinet. or with nothing, and just enjoy the pure corn taste.

Bagless Microwave Popcorn

In a glass bowl, toss together 1/4 C corn (the kind that is for making popcorn), 1 t oil, and a sprinkling of salt and turmeric powder. Cover the bowl *loosely* (I place a lid partially...one could also use a paper plate). Microwave on high. The popping will start, then slow down. Turn off the microwave when there are 2-3 second intervals between pops. In my microwave, this takes about 3.5 minutes.

I might also try popping some plain popcorn and then tempering it to make popcorn chivda. That might be nice for Diwali!

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"Drop In And Decorate"

I wanted to spread the word about a really fun holiday party idea. It comes from a blogger I adore and admire: Lydia of The Perfect Pantry. The festive season always translates into lots of happy gatherings of family and friends. While it is fun to just get together and chat endlessly and eat and drink, it is also a nice change to get together over a common activity. I always seem to have more fun when there is something more to a party, whether it is a board game or a poetry reading, or some arts and crafts.

Lydia has come up with a wonderful idea called Drop In and Decorate: Cookies for Donation. The idea is that family or friends (or neighbors or co-workers or all of the above!) get together and enjoy themselves at a cookie-decorating party: bringing cookies to life with all kinds of whimsical designs and outrageous colors. The cookies are then wrapped up as adorable little one-of-a-kind gifts and donated to any local organization where they will bring cheer to those who are perhaps not as fortunate as we are. After all, local shelters and food pantries provide basic meals, but it is unlikely that families and children facing adverse times will get special treats to make the holidays memorable.



Lydia tells us the engaging story of how this holiday tradition got started. The Drop In and Decorate website has a free downloadable guide for hosting your own cookie decorating party and advice on how and where to donate the beautiful cookies you create. What a wonderful way to have a lot of fun, create something one-of-a-kind with your own hands, and then get a chance to share it with others!

Mirchi ka Salan

Ever since I wrapped up the Indian Vegetables series, I have been slacking off as far as trying new Indian vegetable recipes is concerned. This is such a pity, because one lifetime is already too short to learn all the recipes out there, and I really should not be wasting time! This week, I tried an iconic dish from the city of Hyderabad in India. Mirchi ka salan consists of bell pepper strips cooked in a tangy sesame seed sauce.

The recipe comes from a "new" cookbook I have acquired: Madhur Jaffrey's A Taste of India. I say "new" because although new to me, this book was first published in 1985 and is currently out of print! I read about this book on Anita's blog and knew right away that I wanted to read it and cook from it. Having no luck finding a copy in the local library, I used a gift card given by my darling friend Sujayita (yes, I am so spoiled!) and found a copy online. The recipe calls for green peppers (bell peppers/ capsicums). I used a mixture of green peppers and red peppers for this dish and was very pleased with the sweet and delicately smoky flavor contributed by the red peppers. It also made the dish quite colorful and festive. Of course, one could use any peppers that are available. Don't skip the lemon juice; from what I can tell, it really pulls the flavors of this dish together.

Mirchi ka Salan

(Adapted from Madhur Jaffrey's A Taste of India, makes about 4 servings)
Ingredients:
3 medium-large green peppers
2 medium-large red peppers
1/2 C sesame seeds
1 t desiccated coconut (unsweetened)
2 T oil (I use peanut oil)
1/2 t nigella seeds/ kalonji
1 t mustard seeds
1 t cumin seeds
2 medium onions, chopped fine
2 green chillies, chopped fine
1/2 t red chilli powder (or to taste)
salt to taste
1/2 lemon, freshly juiced
Method:
1. Grind the sesame seeds and desiccated coconut into a fine powder in a spice grinder.
2. Cut the peppers into thick slices.
3. Heat 1 T oil in a heavy pan. Fry the pepper strips on medium-high heat until charred at the edges and slightly wilted. Remove them and set them aside.
4. Heat 1 T oil in the same pan. Temper it with nigella seeds, mustard seeds and cumin.
5. Saute the onion and chillies until the onions are transluscent (but not browned).
6. Add the salt, red chilli powder and sesame-coconut powder and saute for a few minutes.
7. Add a cup of water and bring to a boil. Simmer for 5 minutes. Add the peppers, simmer for a couple of minutes more, then turn off the heat.
8. Stir in the lemon juice before serving.

This is a delicious way to eat those nutritious peppers! The sesame seed paste gives a very pleasantly bitter, rich, grown-up flavor to the vegetables; very enjoyable. For a well-known classic, this dish came together in minutes. I would love to experiment with this recipe- using other vegetables to make some non-classic variations. I imagine some fleshy (for lack of a more appetizing word!) veggies like ridge gourds and zucchini would be delicious in this sauce. Other chillies like poblano peppers would also work beautifully, I think.

I wanted to make some piping hot parathas to go with the vegetable dish. Putting together a use-it-or-lose-it bunch of wilting scallions (also called green onions and spring onions) from the refrigerator and this recipe for Chinese scallion hot cakes, I improvised a scallion paratha. I made some regular roti dough and minced the green and white parts of the scallion. Then, using Gattina's beautiful pictorial instructions, I made the scallion parathas: roll out the dough into a medium circle, sprinkle with scallions, roll into a tube, coil the tube up, flatten and roll again. It helps a great deal if the scallions are very finely minced. Once griddle-baked, these parathas were flaky and delicious, a nice change from the usual plain paratha that I make.

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My October article for the Daily Tiffin: Gifts from the Heart. Have a wonderful weekend!