Vegetarian

I is for Imam Bayildi

By / A to Z Challenge, Entrée, Vegetarian / 2 Comments /

Have you ever fainted from the sheer joy of eating something sooo delightful? Neither have I! However, today’s dish, Imam Bayildi, says that someone actually did just that. 

Imam bayildi literally means ‘imam (Muslim cleric) fainted’ in the Turkish language. Legend has it that the dish was so delicious and the imam lost his senses. However, there is another version of the story which says that the imam actually fainted at the thought of the amount of olive oil used in the dish and its cost. 

Though imam bayildi is recognized as of Turkish origin, variations of the dish are popular in many countries, mainly in the old Ottoman empire. 

This stuffed eggplant dish can be made with eggplants of any type, but the medium sized purple ones are the best. Though onions, tomatoes and garlic are the essentials of the stuffing, you can add other vegetables, finely chopped, to the mix.

I used bell peppers – red and green- and cauliflower in this version.

Eggplants tend to soak up oil; so, you can decide how much olive oil you want to brush on the eggplant halves. Goes without saying, the more oil, the more flavorful it is. 

On a side note, eggplants are delicious by themselves, in simple preparations. Cut into thick rounds and brushed liberally with olive oil and seasoned with salt and pepper, roast them in the oven for 20 minutes and you have a lovely side dish ready. Or try roasting and mixing them with a chopped tomato and a spoonful of balsamic vinegar… yum!

Whether you believe the story or not, this vegetarian dish is actually very tasty. Imam bayildi can be served with cooked rice or flat bread.

I is for Imam Bayildi
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I is for Imam Bayildi

Author: Ria Cooking Method:Stove-top and in the oven Cuisine:Turkish Courses:Entrée Recipe Keys:Eggplant, Vagetarian
Difficulty:BeginnerServings:2 servings

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees F.
  2. Cut each eggplant into two lengthwise. Brush with olive oil on both sides and season with salt and pepper.
  3. Place the eggplant halves on a baking sheet and place on the middle rack of the pre-heated oven. Bake till the eggplant is soft, about 30 to 45 minutes based on the size of the eggplant.
  4. Meanwhile, heat a pan on medium heat. Add the remaining olive oil to the pan.
  5. Add the chopped onions to the pan and cook till they are transparent.
  6. Add the chopped bell peppers, jalapeño pepper, and cauliflower and continue cooking.
  7. When the vegetables, start to wilt, add the garlic and cook for a minute.
  8. Add the chopped tomatoes and oregano. Mix well and continue to cook.
  9. When the mix is almost dry, turn off the heat.
  10. When the eggplants are cooked, make a depression in the middle of each piece with the back of a spoon. Pile up the cooked filling along the center of the eggplant.
  11. Top with crumbled feta and chopped cilantro. Return to the hot oven and heat through for 10 minutes.
  12. Serve with cooked rice or flat bread.
Keywords:Dinner, Eggplant, Imam Bayildi, Turkish food, Vegetarian

H is for Habichuelas Guisadas

By / Beans, Entrée, Vegetarian / 1 Comment /

Habichuelas Guisadas (beans stew) is a staple of Puerto Rico. It is a very easy and simple preparation, but so flavorful that you will go back to the same recipe again and again.

Though traditionally a Puerto Rican dish, habichuelas guisadas is popular in other regions as well, especially in the Dominican Republic. 

The soul of habichuelas guisadas is the ‘sofrito’. The most common ingredients used for sofrito are pepper, onion, garlic, and cilantro. That said, there are many many variations of the recipe based on regional and family traditions.

Sofrito has its origin in Spain, and travelled with the Spanish colonists to various Caribbean and south American regions. And looks like the moment it landed, sofrito took off on a journey of its own, leading to the existence of myriad versions today depending on where it landed.

More than a blend of ingredients, sofrito is a technique in cooking. The literal meaning of the Spanish word sofrito is ‘fry lightly’. And that is exactly how sofrito is commonly used today – fried lightly in oil to get the cooking process started, forming the flavor base for many dishes.

Sofrito is used to flavor all kinds of stews, beans and rice, including meat stews. 

As bell peppers are one of the main ingredients of sofrito, the color varies – green, red, orange, or yellow – based on the type of peppers being used. They can also be mild or spicy. 

Some versions use other spices like cumin and oregano in the mix. Culantro, also called recao/ sawtooth herb/ wild coriander, is used in a sofrito often either in place of, or in addition to cilantro.It has leaves like rabbit ears and smells surprisingly like cilantro and is a blessing to those who have a negative perception of the flavor of cilantro.

Sofrito is used in many other ways, besides as the base for recipes: added at the finishing stage of a dish to enhance flavors, as a topping for cooked items or even as a dip. In all its incarnations, it is just captivating, let me say.

Sofrito is lent a helpful hand by the ‘sazon’, a dry seasoning blend.This blend is common to the islands.

Habichuelas guisadas can be made with any variety of beans. White, red, pink, pinto… any of them will work well for habichuelas guisadas. Dried beans are soaked and cooked and used for the dish. If you want to make it on short notice, you can used canned beans as well. I used a can of pinto beans and a can of dark kidney beans for this recipe.

Habichuelas guisadas is usually served with cooked rice.

H is for Habichuelas Guisadas
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H is for Habichuelas Guisadas

Author: Ria Cooking Method:Stove-top Cuisine:Puerto Rican Courses:Dinner Recipe Keys:Beans stew
Difficulty:BeginnerServings:4 servings

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. Heat the olive oil in a pan on low heat.
  2. Add the sofrito to the oil and fry for 2 minutes.
  3. Add the chopped tomato and sazon to the pan. Stir and cook till tomato starts to wilt.
  4. Add the beans and mix together. Season with salt and pepper.
  5. Add 2 cups of water to the pan and bring to a boil.
  6. Cover and cook on simmer for 20 minutes.
  7. Garnish with cilantro springs and serve with cooked rice.

    8. Sofrito

  8. Put together 1 red pepper, cut into pieces, 3 ají dulce (or any sweet peppers like cubanelle), chopped, 8 garlic cloves, 1 yellow onion, chopped, 6 fresh culantro leaves, chopped, 6 stems of cilantro, leaves and stems chopped.
  9. In a food processor, blend the peppers and garlic. Add the chopped onion and blend. Add the culantro and cilantro and blend. You can blend this to a smooth or coarse paste. Frozen in containers, stays fresh in the freezer for up to 3 months.

    10. Sazon

  10. Mix together 1 tbsp each coriander powder, cumin powder, garlic powder, onion powder, anatto (achiote) powder, dried oregano, dried cilantro, black pepper, and salt. Store in an airtight bottle for up to two months.
Keywords:Beans stew, Puerto Rico

A is for Avial

By / A to Z Challenge, Vegetarian / 2 Comments /
Avial

Avial comes from Kerala, the state located on the western coastline of India, historically known as the Malabar coast. A vegetarian dish, it is made of a mixture of vegetables with coconut, green chilies and yogurt. It is an essential part of ‘Sadya’ (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sadya) the traditional feast served for festivals and celebrations.

Origin stories variously credit mythological characters Bhima or Ganesha for coming up with the dish. 

What I like most about avial is that it is so versatile; it can be made out of any mix of vegetables as long as they are not too soft or wilty. Root vegetables – potatoes, yams, taro – work well in the mix. So do some of the gourds like ash gourd and snake gourd. Though traditionally not included in the mix, carrots and red peppers add color to the mix.

Some versions even add bitter gourd, which of course gives the whole avial a slight bitter flavor liked by many. 

Vegetables are cut into uniform sized long pieces and added to the pot based on their cooking time. For example, if you have included any of the yams or taros in your mix, they should be allowed to cook half way through before the rest of the vegetables are added. 

Curry leaves are the signature ingredient that gives avial its unique flavor. 

Crushed along with freshly grated coconut, green chilies and cumin, the spice blend is so fragrant.

And the final touch is a spoonful of coconut oil drizzled over the dish.

Though the traditional Avial is made with a mix of vegetables, you can try this dish with a single vegetable. A favorite one to try will be potato avial. Also, egg avial, made with boiled eggs, can be so yummy!

A is for Avial
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A is for Avial

Author: Ria Recipe Keys:Vegetarian

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. Cook the vegetables in a largish pot, adding them to the pot in batches based on the time they will take to be done. Add the turmeric powder, if using.
  2. Coarsely crush the coconut, green chilies, cumin and curry leaves.
  3. When the vegetables are almost done, add half cup of yogurt and salt to taste. Mix well.
    Continue to cook.
  4. Mix the remaining yogurt with the crushed coconut blend.
  5. When the excess water is cooked off and the vegetables are almost dry, add the yogurt-coconut blend. Gently mix together taking care not to break up the vegetables too much.
  6. Turn off the heat and drizzle the coconut oil over the top.
    Serve with cooked rice.
Keywords:Avial, Kerala, south indian, Vegetarian

A Tabouli Salad with a Difference

By / Grains, Greens, Salad / Leave a Comment /

Tabouli is one of the dishes that is a definite hit or miss with me. (Is that statement an oxymoron?) I know that tabouli is a parsley-intense dish. Though not a major fan of parsley, I am okay with it… up to a limit. Sometimes the parsley in the tabouli sooo overwhelms everything else that it tastes of nothing else. In such cases, yeah, that polite one spoon is all that I can deal with.

TS-tabouli

But then, this friend of mine – she is from Turkey, where tabouli is a staple – made this amazing version, with cilantro instead of parsley. And boy, did it change everything! Never have I made a tabouli again with parsley. The main difference I feel, is in the texture. Cilantro has this delicate texture whereas parsley tends to be a bit coarse. Even when you manage to avoid even the tiniest stems and use only the leaves.

 

Another standard ingredient of tabouli is bulghar wheat or cracked wheat. The variety that gets cooked with just hot water poured over it. Recently, I tried using quinoa instead of the wheat. And, found it far superior.

TS-quinoa

 

 

Of course, you can spice up a tabouli too. And you can do that in many ways to suit your perfect tastes. A pinch of allspice powder or eastern eight spice will work very well. Or to keep it simple, teaspoon of pickled jalapenos would really add some heat too.
I start by chopping cilantro.

TS-cilantro

Then some tomatoes…

TS-cilantro-tomato

And finally chop some cucumber as well.

TS-cilantro-tomato-cucumber

Plenty of lemon juice and here I used a pinch of eastern eight spice powder.

TS-ingredients-all

The quinoa is prepared the usual way (see recipe below for details).

TS-quinoa1

Then you just keep adding the chopped stuff one by one. There is no particular order; I added tomatoes first…

TS-mixing1

Cilantro next…

TS-mixing2

And the chopped cucumbers last.

TS-mixing3

Generous squeeze of lemon, the spice powder and salt and pepper. And a squiggle of olive oil to top it all. Tabouli salad is ready to serve!

TS-resdy-to-serve

I like it served with a piece of buttered crusty warm bread. The salad tastes so refreshing, especially on a hot summer day!

 

~Ria

 

A Tabouli Salad with a Difference
 
Author: 
Recipe type: Salad
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Ingredients
  • 1 cup quinoa
  • 1 bunch fresh cilantro leaves
  • 1 large fleshy tomato
  • 1 seedless cucumber
  • 1 large lemon
  • 1 tsp eastern eight spice powder
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • Salt and pepper to taste
Directions
  1. Wash quinoa thoroughly, multiple times, till the water runs very clear. Drain and keep aside.
  2. Boil 2 cups of water, adding a pinch of salt.
  3. Add the drained quinoa to the boiling water.
  4. Reduce heat and let cook simmering for 12 to 15 minutes.
  5. Switch off the heat and allow to cool.
  6. Finely chop the cilantro, tomato and cucumber.
  7. When the cooked quinoa has cooled down, add the chopped ingredients one by one and gently mix together.
  8. Squeeze the juice and add it to the quinoa, along with the spice powder.
  9. Add salt and pepper to taste.
  10. Add olive oil to the prepared quinoa, going twice around the bowl.
  11. Mix together and allow to chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes before serving.

Potato Salad – the Taste of Summer!

By / Potato, Salad, Sides / 2 Comments /

Finally… summer is officially here! Today is Memorial Day… the starting of beach days and spaghetti tops and sangrias and salads! A season embodied by that Nat King Cole song I love… ‘Those lazy crazy hazy days of summer… of soda and pretzels and beer…’. And of course disagree with the last line, ‘You wish that summer will always be here…’ I’m sure no one would give summer a second thought if it was always here! Okay, okay, I digress, that is topic for another post. 🙂
 
p-salad-plated2

So talking about summers and salads, what would you consider the most basic salad? For me, it is potato salad. I can never get tired of it, especially as it can be prepared in many many variations. In fact, I’m sure each person will have their own favourite version of it.
 
p-salad-plated3

Generally, I do not like mayo in my salads as it feels a bit heavy. So for potato salads, I prefer a mix of sour cream and lime juice. And a spot of melted butter to give it a bit more creaminess. Of course, the butter can be totally omitted without any noticeable impact, and most often I do so.
 
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As a rule, I use red potatoes for making a salad. Even though the potatoes are peeled, I like to leave one or two unpeeled so that you get a glimpse of the red skin here and there. Looks pretty!
 
p-salad-half1

And I do have a secret ingredient which gives the potato salad a very nice tingly bite… celery seeds! Just a pinch is sufficient to give the salad that added taste of freshness. And of course, if you want to give it some additional kick, you can always go with finely minced pickled jalapenos!
 
p-salad-ingredients1

Potato salad looks very pretty served on lettuce leaves. My favourite for this purpose is iceberg lettuce. The leaves sure add a delicious crunch to the salad. And don’t forget that lemony sangria to complete the lovely summer feeling!
 
p-salad-plated1

 

~Ria

 

Potato Salad – the Taste of Summer!
 
Author: 
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Ingredients
  • 8 red potatoes
  • 3 spring onions
  • 1 tbsp fresh lime juice
  • 2 tbsp butter, optional
  • 1 tsp dill weed
  • ½ tsp sugar
  • ½ tsp celery seeds
  • 4 ribs celery
  • 1 orange and 1 yellow bell peppers
  • 1 cup sour cream
  • Salt and black pepper to taste
Directions
  1. Peel 6 of the potatoes. Cut the potatoes into ½ inch cubes, two of them with skin on.
  2. Boil the potatoes in salted water, till done. Drain and keep aside.
  3. Thinly slice the spring onions, white and green parts,
  4. Finely chop the celery.
  5. Cut the bell peppers into very small cubes.
  6. Mix together the boiled potato pieces, spring onions, lime juice, butter (if using), dill, sugar and celery seeds. Cover and keep aside till time to serve.
  7. To serve, add the celery, bell peppers and sour cream to the potato mixture and mix well.
  8. Add salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste. Ready to serve!

Mediterranean Summer Bread Pudding

By / Entrée, Vegetarian / 2 Comments /

This Sunday, I have a party to go to. And I’m planning to make a bread pudding with lots of lovely stuff – white chocolate, bananas, cranberries – in it to take along. But then, that is only on Sunday… and people have to eat till then, right? I was not in a mood to go food shopping in the middle of the week. Looking in the refrigerator, I realised I had bits of different cheeses that I needed to use up. But how? And remember, I had bread pudding on my brain… voila, the end result is this Mediterranean summer bread pudding!

msbp-cutpiece1

Why Mediterranean summer? One thing I wanted in the dish was baby spinach… always have it on hand. So we have assorted cheeses and spinach. What goes with that? Of course, olives and lemon! The combination reminds you of a lovely Mediterranean summer, doesn’t it? 🙂

msbp-cutpiece2

This dish would shine with feta cheese as stated in the recipe, but I used an assortment of cheeses, the leftovers from earlier recipes… a bit of gouda, bit of mozzarella, and even a bit of brie. And of course some pecorino on the top. It tasted so yummy!

stuff

Once I arrived at the theme, the rest was easy. Add the standard spices that go with the cuisine… allspice, cumin, red chilli flakes, and oregano.

spices

You can make this with white bread as well, but of course, whole wheat bread is always better*. Whichever bread, make sure that it gets ample time to soak up the juices, before you pop it into the oven.

in-the-pans

Finally, I like to grease the baking pan with butter. If you prefer, you can use olive oil for this purpose.

msbp-done
* Hey, doesn’t that sound like a slogan? “Whole Wheat Bread is Always Good!”

 

~Ria

Divider-Trivia

 

 

Mediterranean Summer Bread Pudding
 
Author: 
Cuisine: Mediterranean
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Ingredients
  • 6 large slices whole wheat bread
  • 1 cup baby spinach, tightly packed
  • 5 artichoke hearts, thinly sliced
  • 12 black olives
  • ½ cup crumbled feta cheese
  • 4 large eggs, beaten
  • 2 cups milk
  • 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
  • 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
  • 1 tsp allspice powder
  • ½ tsp cumin powder
  • 1 tsp red chilli flakes
  • 1 tsp dried oregano
  • 2 tbsp shredded pecorino cheese
  • Unsalted butter to grease the pan
  • Salt and black pepper to taste
Directions
  1. Pre-heat the oven to 350 degree fahrenheit and butter a 9 inch baking pan.
  2. Cut the crusts off the bread slices and cut them into ½ inch cubes.
  3. Cut the baby spinach finely.
  4. Slice the artichoke hearts thinly.
  5. Slice the black olives into thin circles.
  6. In a large pan, mix together the bread cubes, spinach, artichoke hearts and olives. Make sure that the vegetables are not wet so that the bread doesn’t get soggy.
  7. Transfer the bread and vegetable mix to the buttered baking pan and spread evenly.
  8. Spread the crumbled cheese evenly over the bread mix.
  9. Beat the eggs well with the milk. Add olive oil, lemon zest and juice, allspice and cumin powders, red chilli flakes, and oregano. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Mix thoroughly.
  10. Pour this mixture over the bread and cheese.
  11. Keep aside for 30 minutes to allow the bread cubes to soak in the liquid.
  12. After 30 minutes, gently press down the contents of the pan and sprinkle the top with the pecorino cheese.
  13. Loosely cover the pan with aluminium foil and place in the heated oven.
  14. Bake for 30 minutes. Then, remove the foil and continue baking uncovered for another 10 minutes or till the cheese starts to get brown spots.
  15. Slice and serve with a tomato salad on the side. A semi-dry white wine goes well with this Mediterranean summer bread pudding.

 

Cilantro Pesto Pasta

By / Entrée, Vegetarian / 2 Comments /

There is no easier go-to food than pasta… In the time that the water takes to boil and cook the pasta, you can get the sauce done. And if you are in a hurry, nothing is faster than a pesto sauce. However, just because it can be done quickly, it doesn’t mean that pesto is a simple thing; the flavours in a pesto sauce can be complex and intriguing. What is more, you can experiment with different combinations of ingredients.
 
plated-pasta

 

Basically, a pesto sauce needs a nut base to give it body. Add to it any green herb to form the foundation of the flavour. And olive oil to bring it all together. The rest is entirely up to you… you can try various accent flavours to focus on, till you find your favourite combinations.
 
pesto-final
 
The pesto sauce I have used here is very basic, with cashew nuts and cilantro. Flavoured with garlic, ginger and lemon juice. You can keep this pesto sauce in the refrigerator for a week, in an airtight jar.
 
pasta-veggies

This pesto is rather versatile. You can use it with just vegetables or a combination of chicken and vegetables. If using chicken, the easiest way will be to either grill it or pan cook it and then slice it into thin strips. Here I have used just vegetables, a combination of peppers in three colours, mushrooms and egg plant.
 
veg-cooked

Also, you can use any kind small sized pasta for this dish. However, I always prefer spaghetti to go with a pesto sauce. Nice to swirl around your fork!
 
pasta-ready

Enjoy!

~Ria

Cilantro Pesto Pasta
 
Author: 
Recipe type: Dinner
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Ingredients
  • ½ cup cashew nuts
  • 1 cup cilantro, measured after cleaning and chopping
  • ½ cup + 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • A small piece ginger root
  • 2 tsp lemon juice
  • 1 jalapeño or any variety green chilli
  • 1 pinch sugar
  • Salt and black pepper to taste
  • 2 cups mixed vegetables, cut into thin long pieces (any combination of peppers, squash, broccoli florets, mushrooms, egg plant, etc)
  • ½ lb spaghetti
Directions
  1. Soak the cashew nuts in sufficient water to submerge for an hour. (If you do not have the time to soak the cashew, you can as well use pine nuts which do not need to be soaked.)
  2. Pick only the leaves and tender stalks of cilantro and chop.
  3. Remove the skins of garlic and ginger.
  4. Carefully remove the stem and seeds of the jalapeno.
  5. In the blender, add the nuts, cilantro, garlic, ginger, jalapeno, lemon juice, and sugar, and blend well. Add salt and black pepper to taste. When blended into a paste, drizzle the olive oil in a thin stream while the blender is still running. When all the oil is used up, switch off the blender and set the pesto sauce aside in a container.
  6. Cut the vegetables into long thin strips.
  7. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan, on high heat. When the oil is hot, add the vegetables and stir fry for three minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste and remove from heat.
  8. Add some salt to a pot of water and bring to boil. Add the spaghetti and cook uncovered. After 8 minutes, check for doneness. When you can bite into a strand of spaghetti easily, but there is a bit of resistance at the center, it is done enough. Drain the water off the pasta and transfer the pasta to a largish dish. Drizzle one tablespoon of olive oil over the pasta and shake together to coat.
  9. Add the stir fired vegetables to the pasta. Drizzle the pesto sauce over the pasta and vegetables and carefully mix together.
  10. Serve hot with extra pesto sauce on the side.

Eggless Butter Cookies

By / Cookies, Desserts / 1 Comment /

P1 I can never say no to a cookie. They are always good to savour with a cup of tea or coffee or to serve with ice cream or other light desserts. I love to have savoury cookies with soup. Americans call them cookies and British traditionally used the term biscuits, although now the word cookie has become common all over the world. Cookies are not only ideal for everyday eating or a special treat (especially in lunch boxes) they can also be gift wrapped and given away as special gift. Though there is almost no end to the range of cookies that can be made at home, this time I made some eggless cashew butter cookies to gift a pure vegetarian family. P2 EC Without any fancy ingredients and as the process involved is an “all in one" method, these cookies are very easy to make. These butter cookies will fill your kitchen with a wonderful aroma when they are ready to come out of the oven especially with the cinnamon powder in the dough. P3EC Cookie dough should be handled as little as possible otherwise the cookies will be very hard (no one likes butter rocks!) Adding bits of cashew nuts give a nice bite to the otherwise soft cookies. Baking them for 18 – 22 minutes, depending on your oven, will yield cookies that are still slightly soft to touch when being removed from the oven. If you want crispy, crumbly cookies bake it for an extra 3 minutes. Once it’s removed from the oven leave it on the cookie sheet for another 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. The mentioned quantity of ingredients will yield about 10 – 12 cookies. P4 EC

~Min

Eggless Butter Cookies
 
Author: 
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Ingredients
  • Butter ½ cup at room temperature
  • Powdered sugar ½ cup
  • Corn flour 1 tablespoon
  • All purpose flour 1 cup
  • Baking powder ¼ teaspoon
  • Salt ⅛ teaspoon
  • Cinnamon powder 1 teaspoon
  • Nutmeg powder ½ teaspoon
  • Cashew nuts (broken into tiny pieces) ½ cup
Directions
  1. Preheat the oven at 150°C or 300°F.
  2. Combine powdered sugar, corn starch and butter and mix thoroughly with a wooden spoon or a silicone spatula till it becomes light and creamy.
  3. Sift the flour with baking powder and salt.
  4. Add the cinnamon and nutmeg powder into the flour mixture and mix well.
  5. Add the flour mixture into the beaten mixture of sugar and butter and knead well till it forms a dough. If the dough is too crumbly add one or two tablespoons more of butter and knead. Care should be taken not to over knead. Excess kneading will make the cookies hard.
  6. Cover with cling film and leave it to rest for 20 minutes.
  7. Knead it lightly once more and make into smooth lime-sized balls and place them on a buttered or parchment lined cookie sheets. Leave some space in between the balls of dough as they get bigger on baking.
  8. Place the cookie sheets in the preheated oven for 18 – 22 minutes depending your oven. After 15 minutes keep a close watch on them and remove them from the when they are still slightly soft in the middle.
  9. Leave it on the sheet for another 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.

Palak Paneer – Cottage cheese and spinach

By / Entrée, Vegetarian / 4 Comments /

P1PP

Conducting cooking classes for my friends and colleagues was something I really enjoyed doing. We had so much fun during those classes where we cooked together and then devoured all the fruits of our labour afterwards. Though I didn’t manage to hold many sessions, I will always remember those fun filled classes with a smile. Palak paneer and chicken tikka masala were some of the most popular dishes among my friends so naturally, I received many requests to make these two in the sessions.

Palak paneer is a dish prepared mainly in Punjab, a state in northern India. It makes for an excellent accompaniment to rice or naan, Indian flat bread. The combination of palak and paneer is not only nutritious, but is also a delicious blend of taste, textures and flavours. No wonder so many wanted me to teach how to make it!

P2PP

Palak is a type of spinach with rounded green leaves that don’t have a big network of veins, making it a good candidate for blanching and puréeing. So it’s not surprising that blanching the palak is the first step in the process. Simply put all the spinach into a pan of boiling water and boil for 2 minutes without using a lid to cover the pan. This is important because if a lid is used, the volatile oils in these leaves will not be able to escape with the steam and this will result in bitter leaves.  After the 2 minutes, transfer the palak into a bowl of cold water with some ice cubes to refresh it.

Refreshing the Palak
Refreshing the Palak

Paneer is cottage cheese and can be made at home quite easily. I was bitten by a lazybug a few days before I last made palak paneer so I didn’t bother to make my own and used the store-bought paneer instead. It really is quite simple to do though and I will post a nice and easy guide on how to make your own paneer soon!

P4PP

Normally paneer pieces are just fried or added plain into the prepared curry at the end. I always marinate these cubes of paneer with a little lime juice, salt and half a teaspoon of cumin powder for half an hour to make it more interesting and add more flavour to the dish. I then sauté these cubes in a little oil to make them firm so that they won’t crumble when added to the palak.

P5PP

As palak is not very common in certain parts of the world, I wanted to try making this dish with chard or collard greens. But it just never happened. See, still being lazy…I shall post the result when (or if!) I eventually try it out.

~Min

Palak Paneer - Cottage cheese and spinach.
 
Author: 
Cuisine: Indian
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Ingredients
  • Palak (spinach) 300g
  • Paneer 200g
  • Roasted cumin powder ½ teaspoon
  • Lime juice ½ lime
  • Onion (finely chopped) 1 big
  • Cumin seeds 1 ½ teaspoon
  • Ginger (crushed) ½ inch piece
  • Garlic (crushed) 4 cloves
  • Green chillies (finely chopped)1 – optional
  • Tomato ( puréed) 2 medium
  • Coriander powder 1 tablespoon
  • Cumin powder 1 teaspoon
  • Chilli powder ½ teaspoon
  • Salt to taste
  • Cream 4 tablespoons
  • Or Full cream milk ½ cup
  • Sunflower oil (any refined oil) 3 tablespoons
Directions
  1. Cut the paneer into 1 cm cubes, marinate with the juice of half a lime, ½ tsp cumin powder and salt for 10 minutes.
  2. Blanch the spinach, refresh in ice water and grind into a fine paste. Set aside.
  3. Shallow fry the paneer cubes until light brown in a tbsp of oil and drain on a kitchen paper.
  4. Heat the rest of the oil and fry cumin seeds until it changes colour to a darker tone.
  5. Add chopped onions and sauté till transluscent.
  6. Add crushed garlic and ginger, followed by green chilli and fry till the onion becomes slightly brown. Add corriander, chilli and cumin powder and fry for a minute.
  7. Then add the tomato puree and fry for 4-5 mnts stirring often. Add salt to taste.
  8. Once the tomato mixture is fried add the spinach puree and paneer cubes. Let it simmer for 5 minutes.
  9. Add cream or milk and simmer till a glaze appears on top of the liquid.
  10. Add a squeeze of lime (optional) and serve with a swirl of cream.

Houmous – A guilt-free pleasure

By / Grains, Sides / 1 Comment /

P1a

Creamy houmous drizzled generously with olive oil is more or less a permanent dish featured in a Middle Eastern meal. Consisting mainly of chickpeas, houmous can be eaten as a dip with crudités, pita chips etc and as a spread with pita bread. Sometimes I do enjoy houmous on its own, and with no guilt as the chickpea is a legume that’s high in protein and fibre with a low glycemic index making it a good choice for weight control as it gives you the feeling of being full with fewer calories.

Though houmous is easy to make, neither super skill nor fancy ingredients are required, Anthony Rose, a Toronto restaurateur, is serving houmous at a $ 175 -a -ticket culinary fundraiser where 21 of Canada’s best chefs are participating.

The first time I came across houmous was when I started exploring cuisines from different corners of the world. When I heard about houmous and how it was made, I couldn’t fathom how a ‘chickpea paste’ could be so tasty. I first got to try it when one of my students, a Lebanese girl, brought it for an end of year party at school where I worked. A bowl of houmous, that too from a Lebanese kitchen, did taste heavenly and I became an ardent fan of houmous and its variations.

P2

As I tend to make most dishes from scratch whenever possible, I’ve used dry chickpeas and homemade tahini. Dry chickpeas have to be soaked in water overnight and cooked well with a little salt. It’s important to remember that dry chickpeas expand:  1 cup of dried chickpeas will give you 2 ½ cups after soaking.

P3

Tahini and tahini sauce are extensively used in Middle Eastern cooking and it is just a fine paste of dry roasted white sesame seeds. If you are like me and enjoy the flavor of sesame you can add 1-2 teaspoons of pure sesame oil at the time of grinding. Although I prefer using dry chickpeas and making my own tahini, canned chickpeas and store bought tahini will still give the same result.

P4 houmous

In my basic houmous, I add cumin powder and some chilli flakes besides chickpeas, tahini, garlic, lime juice and salt.

P6 houmous

 

Try these variations to make it more interesting.

P7

Add some chopped caper berries to the houmous. The tangy bits of capers give it an interesting  texture.

P9

Soak some sun dried tomatoes in olive oil and grind it along with the rest of ingredients.

P8 humous

Grind some kalamata olives coarsely and add to the basic houmous. Little black specks of olives change the appearance and add a very nice flavour.

My recipe for original houmous calls for 6 tablespoons of lemon juice but be a little shy of adding that much to any of these three variations as all three ingredients are sour.

P9a

Though houmous tastes best when it’s freshly made, it can be refrigerated for a week and can be frozen up to a month.

P10

P11

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

~Min

Houmous – A guilt-free pleasure
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Ingredients
  • Chickpeas 1cup dry chickpeas soaked overnight and cooked with a little
  • salt 2 ½ cups canned or soaked chickpeas
  • Chickpea liquid as required
  • Tahini ½ cup
  • Garlic 3 cloves
  • Lemon juice 6 tablespoons
  • Cumin powder 2 teaspoons
  • Chilli flakes 1 teaspoon or according to taste
  • Salt to taste
  • Olive Oil ¼ cup
  • To make Tahini
  • White sesame seeds1/3 cup
  • Pure sesame oil 1 teaspoon
Directions
  1. Soak dry chickpeas in enough water overnight or till it becomes soft to bite.
  2. Cook the soaked chickpeas. Do not throw away the water in which it’s cooked.
  3. To make tahini, dry roast the sesame seeds till light brown and grind to a paste with 1 -2 teaspoons of sesame oil.
  4. Make a puree of cooked chickpeas, garlic and salt with some chickpea liquid using a food processor.
  5. Add the rest of the ingredients and pulse more till smooth.
  6. Test for seasoning. Transfer to a container and pour the olive oil on top.