10-minute Salvation Cabbage

This recipe gets done in less time than it takes me to write about it, expecially considering it took me two attempts to actually upload the picture. It is really  my salvation on some weeknights when I need a vegetable to balance out the meal. In fact, these days I actually keep chopped cabbage handy in the fridge. It would actually take away the essense of the recipe to write a long post around it.

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End of the Week Cracked Wheat Pilaf

This simple and reasonably healtht effort is the result of my visits to Shiraz Grocery is that I end up picking up stuff, all sorts of stuff - pistachios, saffrons, dried fruit, tea and even odds and ends.
Yes, Mr Shiraz man and I are now good buddies, he always offers me persian recipe tips and in turn I tell him how to Indianize things so we have a happy relationship. He was even concerned about my coping with the cold weather given than we do not have such cold weather in India. Now, that is concern about a customer! Anyhow I digress...
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An early fall weekend...

The start of September this year, could not pronounce more loudly that Fall was here. It was almost like Mother Nature had come in with a big magic wand and waved it around us, “Ok folks, it’s back to school time and my favorite season fall is here!” Aadi started kindergarten this year, stealing the thunder a little from Deepta. His first day went well he is missing his old pre-school and friends. I shall miss it too! It has been a part of my life for almost seven years, since it included the daycare for Deepta. My son is a lot like me, he needs to ease into change but once settled he does well.

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Fading Away..

I would love to think that we have months and months of this beautiful summer left, but even as I go through sorting out things for tomorrow, Deepta starts second grade, I can officially tell that summer is kind of on it's way out. There are apples everywhere an official logo of fall.

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Bruised tomato mint salad in yogurt

This is a really simple inspiration from all the lovely tomatoes that we have in the house and the tons of fresh mint that is blossoming in a planter. Ok, the mint and all the summer herbs are really a big deal, because they are actually being grown by me and not the husband. I have had them from May, they are this far thriving. I have mint, oregano, rosemary, marjoram, lemon thyme and lemon verbana. I have been doing things with them as and when I can. Today it was the mint and oregano's turn. This recipe is almost like an meeting of Tzatziki and tomato raita, the flavors certainly work well together, but then again I always, say, if its fresh and local it works!

Bruised tomato mint salad in yogurt

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 7-8 minutes

Serves 4

Ingredients

4-6 small fresh tomatoes

1/2 cup fresh mint leaves

1 tablespoon fresh oregano

1 teaspoon minced garlic

1/3 cup olive or raw sesame oil (sold as gingely oil in Indian stores)

1 teaspoon red chili powder

1 cup strained or greek style lowfat yogurt

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup lightly roasted coarsely ground peanuts

Cilantro and green chilies to garnish (optional)

Method of Preparation

1. Place the tomatoes in a bowl.

2. Finely chop the mint and oregano and add all but 1 tablespoon of the chopped herbs to the tomatoes.

3. Mix in the garlic and the oil and chili powder and set aside for 10 minutes.

4. Cook lightly on a grill for 3-4 minutes, till the skin of the tomato is barely bruised.

5. Place in a mixing bowl as they are done and pour any remaining oil marinade into the bowl over the tomatoes.

6. Whip the yogurt with the salt and pour over the tomatoes.

7. Lightly mix in the peanuts and garnish with the reserved mint and the cilantro and green chilies if using.

Note: This salad can be served warm or chilled.

A peachy take on chicken..

While we are more than self-sufficient in summer with our vegetables, but we do not grown enough fruit to meet all our needs, which is just as well. This allows me the joy of being able to go the farmers markets. Well a few weeks back, I came home with these lovely beautiful and ripe peaches. We ate a lot of them and I made a nice peach crisp and I actually used them for a marinade. I though the chicken turned out really nice, deep dense and flavorful! I actually also through in some lemon tyme, which were in my opinion a nice and delicate substitute for carom seeds, I have played with thyme and oregano before as a substitute for carom or ajowain.

Here is how this worked

Peach, Cumin Butter and Lemon Thyme Chicken

Prep Time: 24 hours (to marindade)

Cook Time: 25-30 minutes

Ingredients

1 cup lowfat yogurt

2-3 inch piece coarsely chopped peeled ginger

2 pods garlic

3-4 green chilies

3 peaches, peeled and stones

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon coriander seeds

1 teapoon fennel seeds

2 teaspoons agave nectar

1 tablespoons lemon tyme leaves or 1/2 teaspoon carmon seeds

2 pounds skinless boneless chicken thighs, cut into pieces

To baste and finish

2 tablespoons ghee or butter, melted

1 tablespoon freshly ground cumin

1 teaspoon red chili flakes

1 teaspoon salt

Method of Preparation

1. Place the yogurt, ginger, garlic, chilies, peaches, salt, coriander seeds, fennel seeds, agave nectar, lemon thyme or ajowain in blender and blend for a good 5 minutes till the mixture is smooth and dense like a good smoothie.

2. Place the chicken and the marinade in a large ziplock bag and keep in the refridgerator overnight. (note on a milder day you can do this outside for about 5-6 hours)

3. Mix the butter or ghee, ground cumin, red chili pepper and salt.

4. Thread the chicken onto skewers.

5. Place on the grill, and brush well with remaining marinade and the butter spice mixture. Cook for 5-6 minutes, turn baste and repeat. By this point the chicken should be moist tender and crisped.

6. Garnish with lemon thyme and serve.

Note: If you do not want to grill, the chicken can be broiled on skewers, drizzled generously with the cumin butter topping. Also, good olive oil would work as a baster.

All in a day's work

Now much as I liked the movie Julie and Julia, like everything else that tends to get attention, it also fosters stereotypes. The stereotype that I do not like, is that everyone who loves their blog has/hates their dead end day job.

Why does that have to be the case, food - loving, creating and living (OK obsessing for food) can be an amazing hobby just like anything else. True, we food bloggers tend to be a little more accessible to the public.

Well, I do not want to wax poetic about the veggies of the week, I just want to share another quick and blissful success. This week it was a fresh tender eggplant paired with a mild and sweet yellow bell pepper, tomatoes and a light touch of garlic and spices. Bliss and tenderness all in one.

Eggplant with bell peppers and tomatoes

Prep Time: 3 minutes
Cook Time 15  minutes

Serves 3-4 people

Ingredients

1/4 cup oil (olive or grape seed)
1 teaspoon roughly bruised cumin seeds
1 teaspoon grated ginger
5 pods of garlic, finely chopped
1 medium eggplant, (about 2 cups) cut into 2 inch pieces
1 teaspoon turmeric
2 yellow bell peppers, cut into 2 inch pieces
1 ripe tomato, chopped
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon freshly chopped cilantro

Method of Preparation

1, Heat the oil and add the the cumin, ginger and garlic and cook lightly until the garlic is very pale golden.
2. Add the eggplant and shake the turmeric over the eggplant and cook for about 8-9 minutes, stirring well. The eggplant lightly browns, softens and finally turns soft and moist.
2. Add in the pepper and tomatoes and cook for another 3-4 minutes, until the pepper softens and the tomato tums, soft and clings to the eggplant.
3. Mix in the salt and red pepper flakes and stir well and cook for a minute.
4. Stir in the cilantro and serve.

BTW, my secret dream might not be to be Julia Child, but I have my own dream, where my children are civilized and I have an unlimited budget to remodel my house. I would start with a dinnette for my kitchen. Yes, even before the dining room, the kitchen is my priority.

Beet greens with garlic and toasted almonds

The beets are out in the garden, and I am begining to see little peppers and tomatoes poking their way out of the plants.

This year, I have actually planted an entire host of herbs. I got the seeds and plants from, Rosedale Nurseries. I am too nervous to post pictures until the plants stabilize further. Unlike my other half, I kill plants just by looking at them. I do enjoy their beauty and try to capture them with my camera the best I can. It brings me great delight to capture an unexpected moment in nature.

The beets are usually best roasted. I did make an interesting salad with tofu and cashew nuts that I shall post when I get a second. I did however, love this simple creation we enjoyed mid week for our dinner. The pepper adds a very nice but intense heat to this recipe, you can leave it out if you wish.

Beet greens with garlic and toasted almonds

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Serves 4

Ingredients

1/3 cup whole almonds
1/2 cup hot water
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
3 pods of garlic, slices
1.5 teaspoon cumin seeds
1/2 cup chopped garlic scapes (optional)
1/2 jalapeno chilie, minced
4 cups finely chopped beet greens
salt to taste

Method of Preparation

1. Place the almonds in hot water and let them soak for about 10 minutes.
2. Rinse in cold water and remove the skin.
3. Chop coarsely.
4. Lightly toast the almonds, until very lightly golden and set them aside.
5. Heat the oil and the butter and add in the garlic slices, cumin and cook for about half a minute.
6. Add in the garlic scapes and the chilie and continue cooking for about another minute until the mixture is a beautiful, fragrant bubbling mass, this takes about 3 minutes. You need to keep stirring constantly.
7. Add in the beet greens and the salt and cook for another 2-3 minutes until the greens are wilted.
8. Stir in the almonds and enjoy!

The garden and salad series

Te garden is green and lush, with all still plenty of lovely green lettuce, lots of lovely fresh lettuce and berry trees that are begining to wake up. The first of these are the blueberries that adorn their tiny little plants in pretty little clusters. I have been trying hard to get some pictures with them just with one or two berries turning blue, and finally managed to get something this week. The beauty of the seasons is there predictability and of course there landmarks, the daffodils tell us that spring is on its way, followed by the vibrant forsythia's that fill our hedges with yellow and of course the rains that bring with them the beauty of late May flowers.

These delicate and pretty breakfast radishes were what came in this week. I know dear reader that you are probably getting tired of all my salad posts. It is one of those downsides of seasonal eating, you cannot plan what you get and you make do with what nature gives you.

This Lemon Wasabi Salad recipe was inspired by this post and something that I had tried a while back adding a touch of wasabi powder to the radishes. So this is how my lemon wasabi radish salad ended up.

Lemon Wasabi Radish Salad

Prep Time: 25 minutes (includes some time to let the salad mature)

Ingredients

4-6 small radishes (I used tender breakfast varieties)

1/2 teaspoon powdered wasabi

1/2 teaspoon black salt

1 red onion, thinly sliced into rings

2 cups chopped fresh green leaf letuce (optional)

1 teaspoon chaat masala

2 tablespoons minced cilantro

1/2 teaspoon sugar

1 fresh lemon, cut into half and seeded

Method of Preparation

1. Slice the radishes thinly and add the wasabi and the black salt.

2. Add in the red onion and toss well and set aside for about 5 minutes to let the flavor deepen.

3. Add in the letuce, chat masala, cilantro and the sugar and shake well.

4. Squeeze in the lemon juice and set the flavors settle for about 5 minutes, before serving.

Lately I have been at home for a few weeks, mostly nursing my shoulder and trying to figure out how to stay engaged. One of my activities have been to play house. By this, I am looking at some of the really dated furniture in our lower level, consists of a 18-year old futon that I had from my college days. We do not have a whole load of space downstairs, especially since we now have a piano, for my budding musicians, the idea of a medium sized sectional sofa sounds appealing.

Kashmiri spiced roasted vegetables

Well, this week along with the turnip greens we were blessed with some turnips, not a lot about 3 fairly large and pretty purple topped varieties.
Well, I pondered on what to do with them, I like these with lamb, however I needed to put together a vegetarian main dish and my vegetarian (sans garlic eating MIL) is visiting for the week.

I did not know whether this would work with lettuce which is the other thing that we have so much of in our garden. So finally I thought of adapting a fairly rich recipe for the oven.

I know that a lot of people avoid the oven in summer, but I have to tell you I prefer it sometimes to stove top cooking. Today it was time for the oven.

Kashmiri spiced roasted vegetables

This recipe came together very nicely and with fairly interesting results.Kashmiri Dum aloo uses small baby potatoes, that are deep fried and then cooked till dry in a nice spice base.

Here I roasted vegetables and then baked them further with the spice and yogurt sauce.

Ingredients

3 medium turnips, peeled and cubed

2 potatoes, peeled and cubed

1 cup medium sized broccoli florets

1 cup medium sized cauliflower florets

1/3 cup oil

1-2 teaspoons salt

1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger

1/8 teaspoon asafetida

2 cups low fat yogurt

1 teaspoon fennel seeds

1/2 teaspoon cloves

1 teaspoon red chili powder

Method of Preparation

1. Prick the vegetables well, until they appear porous. This is a tip I got from some recipe that Sanjeev Kapoor had suggested. It makes the vegetables crisp and helps absorb the sauce.

2. Heat the oven to 400 degrees.

3. Place the vegetables in a baking pan and drizzle with some of the oil and salt and bake for 15 minutes.

4. In the meantime, heat the remaining oil and add the ginger and asafetida and cook until the ginger is nice and crisp.

5. Add in the yogurt.

6. Grind the fennel and cloves to a powder and add in with the red chili powder and remaining salt. Bring the sauce to a simmer, it should be a fair thin sauce.

7. Pour this over the vegetables that should be nice and crisp at this time and cook for another 10 minutes, until the sauce is almost absorbed by the vegetables.

Egg Masala with mushrooms!

Still savoring the remains of fall, the past few weeks have been rather stressful at work - feeling the sharp impact of the times. I have been trying hard not to let the impact get me down just before thanksgiving.

Well, a few nights back, I made a very simple curried egg version. Actually, much simpler than the Dimer Dalna, that some people liked a lot. It is different but nice as well. It would make for a good brunch dish, or really anytime of the day!
We actually had it for dinner over rice.
Egg masala with mushrooms

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Serves 4 people

Ingredients

2-3 tablespoons oil
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
6-8 shallots, coarsely chopped
1 teaspoon grated ginger
2-3 pods of garlic, minced
4-6 minced green chillies
8-10 curry leaves
1 teaspoon curry powder
3-4 tomatoes, quartered
1 teaspoon salt
6-8 boiled eggs halved
1-2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 cup chopped mushrooms
1-2 tablespoons chopped cilantro

Method of Preparation

1. Heat the oil and add the cumin and mustard seeds.
2. When the mustard begins to pop, add in the shallots, ginger and garlic and cook lightly till soft and transluscent. This takes about 5-6 minutes.
3. Add in the chillies, curry leaves, curry powder, tomatoes and salt cook till the tomatoes are soft and a light gravy is formed.
4. Lightly fold in the eggs and stir in the vinegar.
5. Heat the butter and saute the mushrooms until the mushrooms are soft, this takes 3-4 minutes.
6. Stir in the mushrooms and cilantro and serve immediately!

An ungodly hour - a simple recipe

I am actually uploading some really nice pictures my brother has taken of his current trip to the east coast. I am up waiting while flick uploads the pictures, in bars of pink! I was around today. I took Aadi for a check to the immunologist. I was a little sad to see, how excited he was at the prospect of being taken to the doctor by me. Usually, dad does this. Well, such is life...

This morning I was really feeling on top of my act, because I woke up in time to make a good breakfast for all of us (we were all at home, but I tend to sleep in on Saturdays!), until I saw what my daughter had scribbled while I was making breakfast. LOL!

It read, " On Saturday, I went trick or treating! Mas is taking so long to get my eggs ready. Aadi is eating his rewards!Ma gave me my egg now, I don't have a spoon with my egg, I have a fork"

Gosh, tough crowd. Well, I made this fairly straighforward paneer recipe a couple of weeks back, try it!

Paneer Manoranjan - Indian cheese with mushrooms

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Serves 4

Ingredients

1 tablespoons oil

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

1/8 teaspoon asafetida

1 cup diced tomatoes (I used a mixture of red and green)

1 teaspoon red chili powder

1 teaspoon tandoori masala

1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger

1 lbs paneer, cut into cubes

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon chaat masala

1 tablespoon ghee or butter

1/2 cup diced portabella mushroom

Cilantro to garnish

Method of Preparation

1. Heat the oil and add the cumin seeds and wait for the seeds to sizzle. Stir in the asafetida.

2. Add in the tomatoes, chili powder and tandoori masala and the ginger and saute for 20 seconds.

3. Stir in the paneer and salt and cook for 10 minutes.

4. Stir in the chat masala.

5. In a separate pan, heat the ghee and add the mushroom and saute for 2-3 minutes.

6. Mix into the paneer and garnish with cilantro and serve.

Green Tomato Chicken

I don't know if like us you have a plethora of green and semi ripe tomatoes, but we have had loads and loads of these semi-ripe orange and crisp hard green gems. I have been playing around with the green ones like there is no tomorrow.

Surely, I thought there is more one can do with green tomatoes than jam and fried green tomatoes. I did make both, I have to confess I was not super thrilled about my results with the fried version.

Well, this chicken was really nice... Spicy, tangy and just perfect for a cool, crisp fall day!

So, here is how I did it.

Green Tomato Chicken

Prep Time: 1 hour (mostly marinating)

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

For the marinade

2 lbs chicken on the bone, skinned and cut into pieces (I used 2 cornish hens)

1 teaspoon red chili pepper

1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper

2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon turmeric

1 lemon, sliced

For the gravy

3-4 pods garlic

2 green tomatoes

1 firm red tomato

1 -inch piece ginger

2 green chilies

3 tablespoons oil

1 teaspoon cumin

1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds

1 onion, thinly sliced

8-10 curry leaves

2-3 tablespoons chopped cilantro

Method of Preparation

1. Place the chicken in a large container. Rub evenly with the dry spices, squeeze the lemon juice and set aside for an hour.

2. Heat the oil and add the cumin and mustard seeds. When the mustard seeds begin to pop, add in the onion and saute for 2-3 minutes.

2. Grind the tomatoes, garlic, ginger and chillies to a paste.

3. Add in the tomato mixture and the chicken and now continue cooking this on medium heat for a good 20 minutes. The spices meld and soften, the tomatoes become a nice thick gravy with shards of carmelized onions.

4. Add in the curry leaves and cook for 5-6 minutes.

5. Stir in the cilantro and serve and enjoy as appropriate.

Pui Chingri Chorchori - Malabar Spinach and vegetable medley with Shrimps

Eastern India where I grew up incorporates a variety of greens and vegetable medleys in the cooking. Actually, now that I think about it, there are several regional combinations of vegetables across India. These combinations other than providing a good way to balance out your vegetables are very economical and a great way to mix and match vegetables of the season.

This summer, my contribution to our garden project was to transport a tiny piece of my childhood to our backyard. I read in this wonderful blog, about how easy it was to grow this green.

Early in summer, when I had gotten a bunch of Malabar spinach from Jackson Heights, Queens I saved a stalk or two and kept these stalks in water.

Sure enough, it began to root and ten we placed it in our backyard and Pui or Malabar Spinach came to our backyard. The plant is a climber, therby actually needing very little room to grow.
Well, it looked so pretty, I really did not want to use it, but it is begining to get cold and the leaves are turning yellow, going through the usual rites of season change. I cooked this up as a chorchori - that as mentioned earlier is a bengali melange of vegetables. I added little shrimps to it. This is actually also a classic way of adding protein to balance out the meal.

Pui Chingri Chorchori - Malabar Spinach with mixed vegetables and shrimp

Prep Time: 5-7 minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes

Serves 4

Ingredients

2 tablespoons mustard oil

1 teaspoon panchphoron

3-4 dried red chillies

1 cup white daikon radish or red radish (cubed)

1 small potato cubed

1/3 medium cauliflower,

1 small eggplant cut into small pieces

1 inch piece ginger

1 teaspoon fennel seeds

1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds

1 teaspoon coriander seeds

2-3 cups chopped malabar spinach

1/2 cup green peas ( thawed)

1.5 teaspoon salt

1/2 quarter lbs shelled shrimp

1/2 teaspoon turmeric

1/2 teaspoon sugar

Method of Preparation

1. Heat all but 1 teaspoon of the oil and add in the panchphoron and cook till the spice crackles.

2. Add in the radish, potato, cauliflower and eggplant and mix well. Reduce the heat to low and cover the pot and cook for about 7-10 minutes

3. In the meantime, grind the ginger, fennel, cumin and coriander into a paste.

4. Remove the cover and stir well, the vegetables should be fairly soft at this point and have released some moisture.

5. Add in the spice paste, and the greens. Add the greens slowly, letting them wilt, you can add a little water if the mixture appears to dry, but you do not want this to get too wet. Add in 1 teaspoon of the salt and the peas and cover the mixture.

6. Smear the shrimp with the remaining oil, salt and the turmeric.

7. Place in the microwave and cook for 1 minutes.

8. Stir the green and vegetables well, the spinach should be nice and soft as should the eggplant.

9. Mix in the shrimp and the sugar and serve with rice and dal.

Bhindi Do Piazza

It has become an interesting game, to see what every few days brings from the little backyard. I have to tell you I am surprised to see this year, how much we have been getting from such a little lot, that to with just Anshul tending to it, since my black thumb is not much use. His enthusiasm has been a joy for me.
Anyhow my children love bhindi or okra and feel rather sad that they cannot eat the spicy variation we get in restaurants. I do cook okra every week but it is a simple sauted version not the crispy fancy indian restaurant fare. I just cannot bear the thought of adding so much oil to a vegetable.
I tried baking this today and had really good results. I will make a few tiny tweaks the next time around in that I shall try to add the eggplant later. Do-piazza reffers to "double onions" I actually added two kinds here. This is how I made this dish.

Bhindi Dopiaza - Roasted Okra with pearl and red onions

Prep Time: 7 minutes
Cook Time: 35 minutes

Serves 2-3 people

Ingredients

10 pearl onions, peeled, halved and sectioned
1 lbs okra, cut into slices tips and tops removed (note: wash the okra before cutting it)
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon cumin
Olive oil sray
1 tablespoon oil
1 red onion, thinly sliced
1 tomato coarsely chopped

Method of Preparation

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
2. Place the okra on a baking dish in a single layer, add the salt, turmeric and cumin. Spray generously with cooking spray and place in the oven for 10 minutes. I added the onions with the okra and this overcrisped some of the onion, so I am suggesting adding the onion after 10 minutes and re-sprayng at this time. Cook for another 15 minutes.
3. Heat the oil and add the red onion and saute lightly and then add the tomato and cook till somewhat soft, gently stir in the onions and okra and enjoy!

You Say Tomaayto...

The tomatoes in our garden are begining to make their appearance as are the "friendly squirrels. This esplains why some of these beauties have been picked a little before they have been vine-ripened. We do eat a lot of tomatoes, but I have been having a little difficulty keeping up with the harvest.
Also while some of these tomatoes are being put away in paper bags to ripen, I am also getting a few tomatoes that are slightly damaged and green. These would spoil if I actually did not use them right away, so I tried making this jam. It is really very close to a bengali chutney in the light tempering but it is then a jam, thick and sweet. I used lemon juice actually lime juice to add a little bit of tartness, and I think we were very happy having this with some bread and cheese.

Spiced Tomato Jam

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 40 minutes

Makes 1.5 cups of Jam

Ingredients

1 teaspoon ghee

1 teaspoon fennel seeds

2 dried red chillies

1 large red tomato (firm) (coarsely chopped)

3 green tomatoes (coarsely chopped)
Juice of 1 lime
1 1/4 cups of sugar

1 large stick cinnamon

Method of Preparation

1. Heat the ghee and add in the fennel seeds, when they being to sizzle add in the red chillies.

2. Add in the tomatoes and the lime juice followed by the sugar.

3. Cook on low heat until the sugar is melted, stirring frequently.

4. Add in the cinnamon and cook till the mixture is fairly thick, this takes about 30 minutes. The mixture should be thick and soft like a thick jam.

This would be lovely on thick bread!

Dal and Cauliflower Bhartha - Summer 2009!

What makes Summer 2009 different, I honestly am not sure and yet it is different. Possibly because I have actually learnt to appreciate little things through my children's eyes - I do hope that I do not ever lose that perspective.

Small things make a big difference in their worlds, they are also content most days! For example, the highlight of Aadi's world today was to see me use a new pair of cat clippers on Benji! Anshul has been happy with the garden project, I am so happy to finally have more tomatoes than I can use, even if this is transient it is not a mean feat in our household, we are practically addicted to tomatoes!

Well, I have also learnt to love blueberries! For some reason, I restricted my summer berry love to just raspberries and strawberries, thus far!

The other night, I made this very simple bhartha, where I actually substituted cauliflower for potatoes. I was curious to see how this would turn out and in the process realized how important mustard oil is too me. No, I do not use it everyday or for every meal, but I guess when I need it it is an essential. I do not really even have pictures to post of this

A bharta is a puree, usually of eggplant or potatoes. This particular variety is the bengali variety, which does include lentils and usually is made with starchy vegetables like sweet potatoes, pumpkin, taro and of course potatoes. I made this with red lentils (masuur dal) and cauliflower and loved it!

Kofi and mushur daler bhorta - Dal and Cauliflower Puree

Serves 2-3

Ingredients

2/3 cup of red lentils

1 small potato, peeled and cut into quarters

1/2 a head of medium cauliflower

1 clove of garlic

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon turmeric

1 tomato, quartered

1-2 tablespoons mustard oil

1/2 red onion, very finely diced

2 green chillies, finely chopped

2 tablespoon chopped cilantro

Method of Preparation

1. Place the lentils, potato, cauliflower, garlic, salt, turmeric and tomato in a pressure cooker. Add 1/3 cup of water.

2. Bring the pressure cooker to full pressure and cook for 3 minutes. Cool naturally and remove the pressure.

3. What you should see is a well steamed caulflower with spices clinging to it, a wilted tomato and soft flaky lentils that are fairly dry.

4. With a firm hand and a wooden spoon, mix the vegetables and lentils into a smooth puree.

5. Mix in the other ingredients and enjoy as a side dish or even a dip or spread.

Blogathon - Day Two

I was out pretty late last night, unusual for a weeknight, that too a Monday and I am just so tired today, I am glad we have this blogathon going on, because it is motivating to post this entry rather than loosing it in the shuffle. Something that happens to me so often. Well, along with the mint we went a little overboard with the pepitas (pumkin seeds) in this recipe. Let me tell you if you have not tried toasted pepitas before be prepared to be completely swept away with the rich taste. The kids have been generally excited with the new "nut" so they were rather eager to try it. The sauce for this 20 minute wonder is made my evening. Best of all the sauce was really just cleaning out the blender bowl after the chutney was made.

Seared Salmon with a creamy mint sauce

For the sauce

3 tablespoons nutty mint/cilantro chutney
3-4 tablespoons lowfat sour cream (you can your about 1/2 cup light cream if you want to be indulgent).
1/2 cup water

For the salmon

1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon oil
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 lbs salmon, cut into 4 pieces
1 tablespoon coarsely chopped pecans
1 tablespoon pepitas

Method of Preparation

1. Blend the ingredients for the sauce and place in a microwave safe bowl. Heat for 2 minutes on high.
2. Add the butter and oil in a heavy bottomed pan and cook on low till the butter begins to brown.
3. Mix the cumin, pepper and salt together and rub onto the salmon.
4. Place the salmon in the pan in a single layer and cook until browned on both sides.
5. Remove and place the salmon in a single lay on a flat serving dish.
6. In the same cooking pan as the salmon, add the pumpkin seeds and the nuts and toast these until they darken just a little.
7. Pour the sauce over the salmon and top with the toasted nuts and serve with a salad.

The nutty mint chutney is really a cross between a salsa and what in Indian cooking is considered a fresh savory chutney. The later chutneys unlike their sweet counterparts are not cooked, they are a spicy melange of fresh herbs and some spices and some nuts (such as coconut) for enriching the base. They are great as a condiment but also useful for light marinade and sauces as used above. So here is how I made this variation.

Nutty Mint Chutney

Makes 1/2 cup

Ingredients

1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves (you can use tender stems if you wish) (

1 cup loosely packed mint leaves

1/2 cup grape tomatoes

1/2 cup pumpkin seeds

1 teaspoon dried pomegranate seeds (note these are different from their fresh counterparts, however you can actually use 1/2 cup fresh pomegranates for a different taste)

2-3 hot serrano chillies

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon sugar

Juice of 2 limes

Method of Preparation

1. Place all the ingredients in the bowl of a blender and blend for a good 3-4 minutes until smooth and thick.

2. Place the chutney in a glass container (with a lid) and use as needed with a 3-4 days of preparation.

An event, backyard cooking and more...

Anshul's summer project is begining to bear fruit - more vegetables to be precise, but we are really proliferated with lovely green spinach, red beets and yet new big tomatoes. I am a little tired tonight to post the garden pictures, but promise to do this over the weekend!

This particular recipe is the begining of what I shall be calling backyard cooking, recipes inspired by what I can find in my backyard - in this instance the tomato and the cilantro are from the backyard. The rest of the recipe just came together.


Butternut Squash and Zucchini Curry

The recipe has lots of lemony notes that are a perfect contrast to the sweet butternut squash used here. I have also added crumbled paneer (I made this a couple of days back) for some richness and body. The recipe is gently tempered with mustard seeds, that makes a lovely nutty contrast to the onions and garlic scapes that are used to form the base of this rather simple homestyle dish.

Serves 4

Ingredients

2 tablespoons mustard or extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
1/2 teaspoon nigella seeds
1 medium sized red onion, peeled and cut into a dice
1/2 cup finely chopped garlic scapes
1 large tomato, cut into a dice
1 zuchini, cut into a large dice (basically the size here is in between a cube and a dice)
2 cups, diced butternut squash (this can be pumpkin)
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon red chili powder (optional)
3/4 cup crumbled paneer
1 lime or lemon, halved and seeded
3/4 cup chopped cilantro


Method of Preparation

1. Heat the oil and add the mustard and nigella seeds and cook for about 30 seconds until the mustard seeds begin to pop.
2. Add in the onion and garlic scapes and saute on low heat for 3-4 minutes until the onion is wilted and transluscent.
3. Add in the tomato and cook for another 3-4 minutes until soft.
4. Stir in the zuchini and butternut squash with the salt, turmeric and chili powder (if using this) and the paneer, mix well, cover and cook for 7 minutes till the vegetables are soft.
5. Squeeze in the lemon or lime juice and the cilantro. Remove from heat and serve.

If you like this kind of cooking, please check in through next week. The Westchester bloggers are doing a blogathon to promote the local farmers markets. You can see the blogs in the, "In the neighbourhood section of my blog. If you are a food blogger in Westchester, please join the Westchester Food Bloggers group on Facebook to join the fun!

Sweet and Spicy Apple Buttnernut Rasam

This soup like many other creations in my kitchen started as a dish for my little ones, however after tasting this, I felt the flavors had potential to do more that provide good nutrition, they could grow up. A little bit of this and that produced an interesting rasam.

A traditional rasam is plentiful in tomatoes and a fairly thin soup. My variation is thicker than the typical broth but still thin enough to pass muster.

Sweet and Spicy Apple Butternut Rasam

Makes 6 servings

Ingredients

2 granny smith apples

2 cups of butternut squash peeled and cubed

4 tomatoes finely chopped

1/2 cup brocolli slaw (optional)

3 tbsp toor dal (pigeon peas)

2 tsp salt

2 cups vegetable broth

1.5 tbsp rasam masala

1 tbsp ghee

1.5 tsp cumin seeds

1/2 tsp mustard seeds

1/3 cup yogurt

1/4 cup cream

4 tbsp chopped cilantro

2 limes juiced

Method of Preparation

1. Peel the apples and cut into chunks.

2.Place with squash, brocolli slaw, dal, tomatoes, broth, salt and rasam masala, into a pressure cooker and cook for 10 minutes and cool for 5 minutes. Alternately, simmer for 45 minutes on a a low flame till all the ingredients are very soft and pureed.

3. Beat the mixture till smooth with a wisk and add 2 cups of water and check for the salt.

4. Heat the ghee and add the cumin and mustard seed. When the seeds start to crackle add this to the lentil mixture and bring to a boil.

5. Let this simmer for 5 minutes.

6. Remove from the heat.

7. Beat the yogurt and cream together till very smooth and gently stir into the soup.

8. Top with the cilantro and lime juice.

9. Serve in individual bowls either over rice and alone.