Mixed beans in a creamy gujarati style gravy

Well, here I was browsing through Trupti's,
beautiful blog, when I came across her recipe for Makai Chevdo, sweet corn simmered in milk and spices. I usually have more corn than I know what to do with but not last weekend. So, I started looking for what I could substitute, I found green peas, baby lima bean, and white kidney beans. So I figured since I like them all why stop at one of these ingredients. I did add a tomato and some sugar since I figured none of the above had the sweetness that corn had. My kids loved the idea so I also have since made a tofu-corn variation. Try the recipe as is or my variation, this is simple nutritious comfort food at its best.

Mixed Beans in a creamy gujarati style gravy

Serves 4

Ingredients

2 tbsp oil
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1/8 tsp asafetida
1/2 cup mixed dry baby lima and white kidney beans ( I cook these in a crockpot till soft)
1 cup frozen peas
2 green chillies finely chopped
1 tsp salt
1.5 tsp brown sugar
1 cup milk
1 cup water
2 limes

To garnish

Cilantro leaves

Method of Preparation

1. Heat the oil, add the mustard and cumin seeds and cook till they crackle.
2. Add the asafedtida followed by the beans and peas and cook for 5 minutes.
3. Mix in the chillies, salt, and sugar with the milk and water and simmer for 15 minutes.
4. Squeeze the lime over the beans and garnish with cilantro and enjoy.

Cauliflower with Crab and Balsamic Vinegar

This one is from food and wine magazine. One of the few magazines that I subscribe to. (what a not-surprise, since I love both food and wine). The subscription actually was an add-on to a freebee trial subscription. I don't know about others but I am really bad about accepting those freebee trial offers and then not canceling them. Well, I have been ripped off, several times and been stuck with unwanted materials that I do not know what to do with. Other times (like the stupid almost free newpaper in my driveway it is more painful to really deal with the offer, since I never have time to read the newspaper and spend all the time reclycing it!) it is not worth it, but what I am trying to say is that I like this magazine.
The past issue had an interesting cauliflower and scallops recipe. Well, I loved the idea and since I always have cauliflower and balsamic vinegar in my house, that was hardly the problem, it was scallops. I love scallops but I use it less than shrimps. In this particular case I had some fake crab, available. I felt, this had the sweetness that the scallops would have and makes somewhat of a substitute in a pinch. In this recipe, which was inspired by the mentioned magazine but reinvented to the following in my kitchen, the substitution works I think.

Balsamic Cauliflower with Crab

Ingredients
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 pkgs fake crab (16 oz)
1/2 head cauliflower
1 inch piece ginger
2 green chilies (yes the last two ingredients are where I take over the recipe!)
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar.

Method of Preparation

1. Heat the oil and sizzle the cumin and add the fake crab (if you were using scallops you were supposed to pan sear them.).
2. In the meantime, pulse the cauliflower, ginger, chilies, in a food processor to a coarse pulse.
3. Add this to the crab mixture and cook stirring well for 15 minutes till the cauliflower starts begining to have brown spots.
4. Add in the balsamic vinegar (I found this white balsamic vinegar in my local grocery that I am excited about since it has the flavor but not the dark color that may not be that great for recipes like this).
5. Cook for 10 minutes and eat hot.

Ok, what can I say about cauliflower, something that I actually love and don't care about its nutritious value. Well, if I read the linked article it helps prevents cancer and has a reasonble share of vitamins so it seems to be a good thing to like. Cauliflower is my contribution for this weeks WHB hosted by Becky of Key Lime and Coconut.

Date-Pine Nut Cake with Fennel

As always, I find Mahanandi
a beautiful blog to visit. I was recently struck by this recipe, for a Date-Walnut cake. Firstly, when I went to make it I realized that I did not have any walnuts, then I played around with the flavorings but overall the results were really good and frankly this was quite wholesome for a cake.

Date-PineNut Cake with Fennel

Makes one loaf

Ingredients

1 cup wholewheat flour

1 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp fennel seeds

1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1 cup pinenuts

1 cup chopped dates

1/2 cup honey

1/2 cup dark brown sugar

1/4 cup soft butter

1 egg

1 cup buttermilk

Method of Preparation

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a loaf pan and set aside.

2. Mix the flours, baking soda, baking powder, fennel seeds, pumpkin pie spice in a large bowl.

3. Stir in the pinenuts.

4. Mix the dates in the honey.

5. Beat the sugar, butter and egg till smooth.

6. Add in the dates with the honey.

7. Add to the dry ingredients in batches with the buttermilk. Blend till smooth.

8. Pour into a pan and cook for 45 minutes till well browned. Serve hot with tea.

Interestingly enough, I made this rather late at night and was not sure about having tea at that time. Someone had sent me a gift of something called white tea that I had never had before. This happens to be a rather mild tea that needs to be steeped in hot but not boiling water. It is also much lower in caffiene than regular black tea so it makes a good late evening drink when you are craving tea at night.

Ginger-Garlic Cubes

Something that I absolutely must have when cooking something is a ginger garlic paste. I also through in some other things as available, usually green chillies. There you have it 3-G's for the letter G being hosted by One Hot Stove.

This will be a fun event, since, I would love to see what people send for some letters like Y and Z. Anyhow, the other thing I have learnt, is that it really does not take extra time to make a batch of these cubes and freeze them in cubes which I can use later as needed.

So here is what I do. I take 2 large pieces of ginger that I peel, 2 whole bulbs of garlic, that are also peeled and 20 green chillies. I process them in a food processor and fit into an ice cube tray and of course use as needed.

Basil - Pat's Marinara Sauce

I work with Pat who originally
hails from Abruzzi in Italy.
Well, rather, that is where her parents are from. Making marinara sauce is a big deal for them. It is a summertime activity starting with the growing of the tomatoes. She has been extolling the wonders of this sauce for a very long time.
For someone like me, who is used to 20 ingredients in a basic dish, it was dificult to comprehend the beauty and richness of slow cooked tomatoes until I tried it. I have made some tweaks to the recipe since I do not always have tons of fresh tomatoes available, but, I think this marinara is still pretty good. This shall teach me to scoff at the simple beauty of tomatoes and garlic.

This is how I have adaped it. BTW, here is a nice post on making marinara in India

Marinara Sauce

Makes 4 cups

Ingredients

1/3 cup olive oil

1o cloves of garlic minced

1 onion finely chopped

1 large can tomato puree

1 can tomato paste
20 tomatoes blanched and quartered

1 bottle(750 ml) deep red wine (I use about 3/4)

1/2 cup coarsely chopped basil

Method of Preparation

1. Heat the oil and add the garlic and onions and cook till turning golden.

2. All the tomatoes and bring to a simmer.

3. Cook on low heat for 2 hours stirring occasionally, using small amounts of the wine to thin the sauce.

4. During the last five minutes add the basil.

This sauce is great on simple pasta but can be a wonderful base for anything you can think of. I sometimes break 3-4 eggs over a small casserole of sauce and bake in the oven for 20 minutes and serve topped with black pepper.

The key ingredient here is basil. This is a herb that I love with tomatoes and in pesto. I make a lighter version of pesto, I shall post someday. I have recently learnt to appreciate its subtle sweet taste and use it in rice dishes and of couse Thai dishes.

WHB is being hosted by Anna at morsels and musings. From what I gather she is recently married. Congratulations!

Hot Chili Peppers

Hot chili peppers are one of those gifts of nature that you either love of cannot handle. They are fruits of the capsicum family and come in all shapes, sizes, and colors. Not all chili peppers are spicy and they are ranked on the Scoville scale for heat. They reaction on individuals is based on chemistry.

In general however eating chilies result in pain followed by an endorphin high. Well, I like hot green chilies and the red cherry peppers (the later for appearance as much as taste), and, in general I think of finger food when I think spicy.

I will talk about making pakoras, that are these simple but irresistable chickpea flour fritters. In my house making pakoras is like making homemade pizza, every has their preference, my brother likes cauliflower, my husband likes tomato, I like chicken, so you get the picture, anyhow, here are two variations.

The first one is with brocolli and make with large florettes tempura style.

Brocolli Pakoras

Makes 20 pieces

Ingredients

1 cup chick pea flour (besan)

1.5 tsp chat masala

1 tsp salt

3 tsp finely chopped green chilies

2 tsp finely chopped cilantro

3/4 cup water

Oil for frying

20 large brocolli florettes

Method of Preparation

1. Mix the besan, chat masala, salt, chillies, and cilantro in a bowl.

2. Add in the water to form a smooth batter.

3. Heat the oil and test with a drop of the batter, it should spread and rise to the top.

4. Lower the heat (this is important) and gently coat each piece of brocolli in the batter and fry in batches and drain on paper towels and serve with ketchup and ginger tea.

Shrimp and Tomato Pakoras

Makes about 20

Ingredients

1 cup small shrimp shelled and deviened

1 lime

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp red chili powder

1 tbsp grated ginger and garlic

1 cup besan

1 onion finely chopped 1 tsp whole cumin seeds

2 tsp chopped cilantro

4 chillies finely chopped

20 grape tomatoes halved

1 tsp black salt

2/3 cup water

Oil for frying

Method of Preparation

1. Squeeze the lime over the shrimp and mix with the salt and chili powder and set aside for 20 minutes.

2. Mix all the remaining ingredients except the oil into a thick paste.

3. Drain the shrimp on paper towels and add to the batter.

4. Heat the oil and test as for the brocolli pakoras and reduce to medium high.

5. Add tablespoons of the mixture and cook for 5-7 minutes on each side. Serve hot.

This is being sent to the Chocolate Lady who is hosting this week's weekend herb blogging. That is quite an iteresting blog that she maintains.

Got a postcard

I had been fussing since I had to help my 3.75 yr old daughter write out 18 valentines for her Pre-K class, until this adorable valentine arrived from Barb2B
for me. It is one of those adorable handmade cards, now How cute is that, now my husband really has to come up with something interesting.
Thanks Meeta!
for organizing this fun event.