cabbage poriyal

A truly South Indian dish, cabbage poriyal is one of my favourite vegetarian sides. Poriyal is a generic word for fried or sautéed vegetables. This particular recipe is from the state that neighbours the one I grew up in. It is super easy and takes only a few minutes to make. Well, quick if you take the easy way out and use pre-cut coleslaw mix rather than chop a whole cabbage yourself. When I first used a coleslaw mix to make this recipe, I picked out every bit of carrot from it; now, I’m too lazy and let the fellows join the party.

Two ingredients that make this dish unique are chana dal (see: lentils 101) and curry leaves, both of which you can get in an Indian grocery store. If you’re curious about the asafoetida, Indians use it to aid digestion, but especially to prevent flatulence. ;) When cooking, you want to ensure that the cabbage doesn’t get soggy; it needs to stay a little crunchy, so don’t overcook it! Poriyal goes well on the side of rice and dal; you can also have a meat dish if a completely vegetarian meal is not your cup of tea.

INGREDIENTS

Cabbage, shredded, 3½ cups or 14 oz

Turmeric powder, ¾ tsp

Oil, 1 tbsp

Mustard seeds, ¾ tsp

Chana dal, 1 tbsp

Curry leaves, 5-6

Dry red chillies, 2-3, broken in half

Asafoetida, a pinch

Grated coconut, ½ cup (fresh or frozen)

Salt, to taste

Yields 4-6 servings.

DIRECTIONS

Sprinkle the turmeric powder over the shredded cabbage, and set aside.

Heat oil in a large wok. Add the mustard seeds, chana dal, curry leaves, and red chillies and roast on low flame, making sure that the chillies don’t burn.

Once the mustard seeds start to pop and the chana dal starts turning brown, add the shredded cabbage and toss well to mix. Sprinkle the asafoetida over the top. Cook on a medium flame, tossing frequently, until the cabbage begins to wilt, about 5-7 minutes.

Add the grated coconut and salt and mix well. Cook for 1-2 minutes. Taste the cabbage; it needs to have a hint of crunch in it. If it’s still too crunchy for your liking, turn up the flame to high, and sauté for a 1-2 minutes more. Serve hot.

mango pudding with saffron and salted pistachios

I’ve been slacking off on making desserts as a feeble attempt to cut out sugar in my diet. Breads are much harder for me to give up over desserts. Yes, it breaks my heart to say that.

While cleaning up boxes that were in storage, I found a newspaper clipping tucked away from an aeon ago for a simple mango pudding. It called for using the delicious king of mangoes, Alphonso, but alas, I had to settle for a bag of frozen pre-cut mango cubes in the freezer. I was 8,000 miles from mango country and several months off of peak season. Still, the recipe works well as long as the mangoes have a normal amount of sweetness.

I’ve never been drawn to desserts that are extremely sweet, and given the trend of adding a bit of something salty to desserts these days (you know, salted caramels, chocolate with rock salt crystals, bacon sundaes, and such), I decided that a pinch of saffron and some crushed pistachios would give this simple pudding an added Indian flair. I recommend making them in individual bowls, in wine glasses or even shot glasses, but if you’re low on refrigerator space and/or too lazy, a large serving bowl will work just fine, too.

INGREDIENTS

Cold water, ¾ cup

Gelatin, 2 tbsp

Mango pulp, 2½ cups (I used 1 lb of diced frozen mangoes)

Sugar, ⅓ cup

Evaporated milk, ¾ cup

Heavy cream, 1 cup

Saffron strands, ¼ tsp, crushed

Pistachio kernels, lightly salted, ¼ cup

Yields 10-12 servings.

DIRECTIONS

Pour the cold water into a small saucepan or upper part of a double boiler, and sprinkle the gelatin over it. Fill the bottom with some water as well. Let it stand for 5 minutes.

Purée the mango pulp, sugar, evaporated milk, and heavy cream together until the mixture turns thick and creamy. Transfer the mango purée to a serving bowl.

Heat the gelatin over a low flame until it dissolves completely; stir gently to prevent it from getting lumpy. Remove the double boiler from the heat, and carefully pour it into the serving bowl.

With a fork, gently whip the gelatin into the mango purée for a few minutes to ensure that it combines thoroughly and uniformly. Sprinkle the crushed saffron strands and stir to mix. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set in the fridge for two hours.

When you are ready to serve, crush the pistachio kernels in a small bowl (or in a Ziploc bag) and sprinkle over to garnish.

baingan bharta/spiced mashed eggplant

Perhaps the South Asian version of babaganoush, baingan bharta is the favourite (vegetarian) dish of many in India. The translation to “mashed eggplant” sounds unappetizing and doesn’t do justice to the flavours of this dish. Ideally roasted over a charcoal flame, the sweet flesh of the eggplant is married to a host of spices for a perfect blend of sweet, sour, and smoked.

INGREDIENTS

Eggplant, 1, large (I used an eggplant that was about 7” long)

Mustard seeds, ½ tsp

Cumin seeds, ½ tsp

Curry leaves, 4-5

Asafoetida, a pinch

Olive oil, 2 tbsp

Onion, 1, minced

Garlic, 4 cloves, minced

Tomato, 2, chopped and crushed (I blended them)

Chilli powder, 1 tsp

Turmeric powder, ¼ tsp

Coriander powder, ½ tsp

Cumin powder, ½ tsp

Garam masala, ½ tsp

Salt, ½ tsp

Coriander leaves, to garnish

Yields ~4 servings.

DIRECTIONS

Pre-heat the oven to 400°F. Pierce the eggplant all over with a knife, drizzle a few drops of olive oil over it and rub to coat. Place the eggplant in an oven-safe dish, and roast for 40 minutes, turning it to a different side every 10 minutes.

Let the eggplant cool, then carefully peel it. Mash the eggplant up with a fork (or coarsely process in a food processor) and set aside.

Heat oil in a pan on medium flame, and fry the mustard seeds, cumin seeds, curry leaves, and asafoetida until the seeds start to pop. Quickly add the onions, and sauté until they start to turn translucent. Add the garlic bits and sauté for a few more minutes. Add the crushed tomatoes, and cook for a few minutes before adding the remaining spices: chilli, turmeric, coriander, and cumin powders, garam masala, and salt. Sauté for about 7 minutes, until the oil starts to separate.

Add the mashed eggplant, cover the pan, and let the baingan bharta cook for about 8 minutes, stirring occasionally in between. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves. Serve hot with Indian breads or rice. 

gajar halwa/carrot pudding

In honour of Diwali (or Deepavali in southern India), the Indian festival of lights that begins today, I wanted to feature an Indian dessert that I count amongst my favourites. It is typically eaten warm with a dollop of vanilla ice cream, though some prefer it cold. It’s fairly common to see gajar halwa served at weddings and other celebrations in India, though it’s usually dripping in ghee when you don’t make it at home – I assure you this recipe is healthier by a mile.

Diwali is a five-day festival that, loosely, celebrates the victories of good over evil, light over darkness, knowledge over ignorance. We didn’t celebrate the true meaning of the festival, but like Christmas (the season, anyway) somewhat transcends religious affiliation, Diwali is omnipotent in India. Mama would light little clay lamps (called diyas) all over the house and in the garden, and sprinkle flower petals in giant copper basins, and we would light sparklers and other firecrackers.

Traditionally, Hindu households light diyas about their house, pray, and distribute an array of sweets to their neighbours and friends. Today, though, Diwali is almost entirely a festival of sound. Naughty kids (such as yours truly) light rockets on the road that whizz behind bicyclists or motorbikers who try desperately to outpace them, or put bijlis (a little red firecracker) and mini “bombs” in mailboxes. Dogs hide under beds (our little bundle, Sox, would jump into any closet you opened), streets are covered in ash and papers leftover from the fireworks, and you may be kept up late night sounds of 1000-string bijlis going off in the distance. Still, it is a fairly magical time that brings together neighbours that are otherwise quarrelling over common walls, laundry lines, and marauding pets and/or children.

INGREDIENTS

Carrots, 1 lb (I used baby carrots)

Whole milk, 3 cups

Sugar, ½ cup

Cardamom powder, ¼ tsp

Ghee, 1½ tbsp

Cashew nuts, 12, quartered

Yields 8 servings.

DIRECTIONS

Grate the carrots into fine shavings by hand or in a food processor. Add to a heavy-bottomed pot.

Add the milk and sugar and stir to mix.

On low-medium heat, cook the carrot mixture until it reduces to a paste-like consistency. You will need to stir it constantly after about the 12-minute mark. The whole process should take about 30-45 minutes.

In a small frying pan, melt the ghee and lightly roast the cashew nut bits in it. Empty the melted ghee and cashew nuts in the pot with the carrots. Sprinkle the cardamom powder over it and stir well to mix.

Serve warm with a dollop of vanilla ice cream.

tandoori chicken foccacia with swiss cheese and avocado

I find it hard to concoct sandwiches that are interesting, especially if I have to make them ahead for lunch the next day. When lazy, the usual suspects are typically cold cuts and cheese, but those days are (mostly) long gone.

Remember that leftover tandoori chicken that I shredded and sopped up in the juices? I did say I would put them to good use. Here it is!

I assembled these foccacias for lunch the next day, but didn’t want to the avocadoes to blacken from sitting around, so I tossed them in lemon juice and stored them with sliced onions in a Tupperware (see: avocado 101). All I had to do the next afternoon was dump the avocado and onion into my sandwich – lunch was perfect and delicious!

INGREDIENTS

Foccacia buns, 2 (I got them at Trader Joe’s)

Chipotle mayo, 4-6 tbsp, as desired (optional)

Swiss cheese, 2 slices

Tandoori chicken, 1 cup, shredded

Avocado, 1, peeled and sliced

Lemon, ½, de-seeded

Red onion, ½, finely sliced

Yields 2 servings.

DIRECTIONS

Slice the foccacia buns down their middle and spread about a tablespoon of chipotle mayo, if using, on each half. Alternatively, you can use butter or leave it plain. Place a thick slice of swiss cheese on the bottom half, and spread half a cup of shredded tandoori chicken on each sandwich.

Squeeze the lemon over the avocado slices, and toss them up to coat. (Refrigerate in an airtight container if you are making this ahead.) When ready to eat, place the avocado and sliced onions over the tandoori chicken.  Cover with the top half of the foccacia bun and chomp!

baked tandoori chicken

I’ve been on a long dry spell with chicken to the point where the taste of it makes me wince. I wonder if it’s poultry altogether or just the one in the US that’s bugging me out (I will test this hypothesis this winter when I travel). It’s been easy to avoid, especially after I was told that I needed to raise my iron levels, and an onslaught of cooking red meat followed. DV, on the other hand, needs to cut down his cholesterol intake and has had to suffer instead (you would think we’re having mid-life health crises with all this talk!).

Trying to keep healthier meats in our diet for carnivorous DV means I have to reevaluate chicken as an option. I had a couple of conditions: i) the chicken needs to be bite-sized, or in nuggets, and boneless; and ii) it needs to be marinated in a million spices to mask any poultry taste. Enter tandoori chicken. It’s a flavour I grew up with and love, and the chicken could be the size I wanted it.

Given the lack of a tandoor, the traditional Indian coal oven that gives tandoori chicken a smoky flavour and charred appearance, baking was the next best and a pretty decent option. The secret to getting the chicken to cook through but still be tender and juicy on the inside is to mimic the tandoor, which uses ridiculously high temperatures (twice as high as I do in this recipe!) for a shorter amount of time.

You can also use this recipe to make tandoori wings, drumsticks, or skewers with veggies, but adapt the cooking times based on how much larger the pieces are than in this recipe. If you’re looking for a fairly traditional meal, serve the tandoori chicken with cumin rice and dal. I shredded up the leftover chicken and mixed it in with the juice that ran when baking, and will probably use it in a sandwich, wrap, or salad – stay tuned for that experiment.

INGREDIENTS

Greek yogurt, ½ cup

Tandoori masala, 1½ tbsp

Chilli powder, 1 tsp

Turmeric powder, 1 tsp

Salt, 1 tsp

Ginger paste, 2 tbsp

Garlic paste, 2 tbsp

Chicken breasts, 2¼ lbs

Ghee or butter, 1 tbsp, melted

Yields 5-6 servings.

DIRECTIONS

Pre-heat the oven to 450ºF (unless you opt to let the chicken marinate for a couple of hours).

In a small bowl, mix together the yogurt, tandoori masala, chilli, turmeric, salt, ginger and garlic. Set it aside.

Cut the chicken breasts into small pieces, about 1-1½”. Grease the bottom of a baking dish with one teaspoon of the melted ghee.

Put the chicken pieces into the baking dish and pour the tandoori marinade over them. Toss the chicken up ensuring that all the pieces get an even coat of the marinade. Spread the chicken pieces in a single layer and drizzle the remaining melted ghee over them. You can either let the chicken marinate in the fridge for 1-2 hours or bake right away.

Bake for 17-20 minutes, depending on the size of the pieces, until the chicken is cooked through and has begun to char lightly. Juices will run from the meat, so don’t be alarmed. Remove from the oven immediately. Use a slotted spoon to pick the chicken out of the juices, and then drizzle a bit of the juices over to keep the chicken moist and glossy. Serve while still hot!

egg fried rice

Perhaps the most versatile of cuisines is Chinese—it has morphed with local cuisines to the point where it is almost unrecognizable though there are still hints of the original flavour. Most cultures substitute locally available or popular ingredients, giving birth to entirely new tastes and dishes. If you didn’t know that Indian Chinese food was a variant, well, now you do. Indian Chinese tends to be spicy, the cuisine from the Sichuan/Szechuan/Szechwan and Manchurian regions being the main source of inspiration.

In India, rice or noodles tend to be the main attraction, and on the side, a saucy chicken or cauliflower Manchurian, chilli or pepper chicken, and chicken 65 (there is no consensus on what the number means nor the recipe) are some of the more popular dishes. Quite unlike anything you’d eat out at a restaurant, Mama used to make this very simple, peppery fried rice (though she’d toss in sausage rounds to make it meatier; I like mine unadulterated) and we’d scoff it down in a hurry. It has no soy sauce, no condiments other than salt and pepper, which means you can pair it with anything. If you want it with meat, you can toss in shredded chicken, bits of ham, fried pork or just cooked shrimp.

Fried rice recipes tend to use cooked rice that’s at least a day or two old, but if I’m desperate to make some, I cook the rice a few hours ahead, let it cool and then refrigerate it uncovered so that the moisture dries out. It works just fine for me!

INGREDIENTS

Basmati rice, 3 cups cooked or 1½ cups raw

Eggs, 3, beaten

Oil, 2 tbsp

Scallions, ½ cup, sliced in rounds, white and green separated

Carrots, ½ cup, diced or grated

Green beans, ½ cup, sliced in rounds

Cabbage, 1 cup, shredded

Pepper powder, 1 tbsp

Salt, to taste

Yields 3-4 servings.

DIRECTIONS

If you are using raw rice, cook it in twice the amount of water, cool to room temperature, and refrigerate. You need the rice to be cold when you mix it in.

Scramble the eggs and set them aside.

Heat oil in a wok, and fry the white/light green part of the scallions until they soften a bit. Add the carrots and green beens and stir fry for a minute or two before you add the cabbage and pepper powder. Sauté for a minute more, ensuring that the pepper coats the veggies well.

Turn up the heat, and add the cold rice to the veggies. Sprinkle salt and stir gently to mix until the rice warms up. Mix in the scrambled eggs and green part of the scallaions and serve hot.

dal/curried lentils

There are a million ways to make dal and everyone swears that their version is the best. Whether you agree with them or not depends on how much you like that particular lentil (see: lentils 101), the ingredients used to flavour the dal, how mushy or true to form the lentil stays, and a host of other factors.

Because it is inexpensive, easy to make, fills you up quick, and nutritious, dal features everyday for most Indians. As a child, dal was boring food, a punishment of sorts; now, it’s become a comfort food that quells a sudden bout of homesickness. Mama made dal several different ways to mix it up and keep us from complaining, but this recipe is my favourite one of them all. You can refrigerate it for 5-6 days at the most, but do not freeze it unless you don’t care as much about it getting mushy when reheated.

INGREDIENTS

Masoor dal (split red lentils), 1 cup

Green chillies, 6, sliced

Turmeric powder, ½ tsp

Water, 3 cups

Ghee or butter, 1 tbsp

Cumin seeds, 1 tsp

Ginger garlic paste, 1 tsp

Ginger, 1 tsp, minced

Salt, 1 tsp

Coriander leaves, ¼ cup, chopped

Yields ~6 servings.

DIRECTIONS

Rinse the lentils in several batches of water until it runs clear, and all of the starch and dust are washed away. Add the lentils, green chillies, turmeric, and water to a pot, stir to mix, and cover with a lid.

Cook on medium flame for 15-20 minutes, checking every now and then to ensure that the lentils do not overcook.

While the lentils cook, heat the ghee or butter in a small frying pan on medium flame. Add the cumin and roast for a minute. Then add the ginger garlic paste and the ginger bits and stir fry for 2-3 minutes.

Once the lentils are cooked, add the spice tempering to the pot, stir and let the dal simmer for a few minutes. Turn off the heat and stir in the coriander leaves.

Serve with steaming basmati rice, Indian breads, or drink it like you would lentil soup (watch out for the chillies though!)

aloo paratha/potato stuffed flatbread

This Indian flatbread takes a bit of time to make but it is delicious enough to make it worth the effort. I’ve eaten it for breakfast, lunch, as a mid-afternoon snack, an appetizer before dinner, and for dinner (on different occasions, of course! Okay, maybe I’ve eaten them compulsively for all three meals before; don’t judge!)

Aloo parathas freeze well after they’ve been cooked and can be thrown straight from the freezer into a pan to be reheated (no need for extra oil). I can easily bolt three parathas for dinner, which means that one round of this recipe doesn’t last very long. If your appetite is as healthy as mine, I recommend toiling the extra hours to make this recipe in double so that you have some saved for a lazy day.

INGREDIENTS

Potatoes, 6, medium

Cumin seeds, ½ tbsp

Cumin powder, 1 tsp

Coriander powder, ½ tbsp

Turmeric powder, ½ tsp

Chilli powder, ½ tsp

Garam masala, 1 tsp

Chaat masala, 1 tsp (optional)

Salt, 1 tsp

Ginger paste, 1½ tbsp

Garlic paste, 1 tbsp

Onions, 2, minced

Coriander leaves, 3 tbsp, minced

Green chillies, 2, minced

–

Wheat flour, 2½ cups

Salt, 1 tsp

Water, 1 cup + more if needed

Oil, 2 tbsp

Cumin seeds, 1 tsp

–

Wheat flour, for dusting

Oil or ghee, for frying

Yields 18 parathas.

DIRECTIONS

Boil the potatoes in cold, salted water until they are cooked but still firm. Let them cool to room temperature, peel the skins, and then freeze for 15 minutes while you prep the dough.

Add the flour to a large mixing bowl and sprinkle the salt in. Add the water, wet your hands, and knead the dough until it is soft, elastic, and doesn’t stick to the sides of the bowl. Depending on surrounding humidity, you may need a bit more water which you should add a tablespoon at a time (I used a little under 1¼ cups of water to get a smooth dough). Form fistfuls of the dough into small balls, about 1½” in diameter. Wet a kitchen towel and cover the balls of dough while you work on the potatoes.

Remove the potatoes from the freezer and grate them evenly (I used the large-hole size of a standard grater) into a large mixing bowl. Add all of the powdered spices to a small bowl, blend them well, and then sprinkle the mixture over the grated potatoes. Add the ginger and garlic pastes, onions, coriander leaves, and chillies, and toss up well so that the potato bits are coated evenly. Form fistfuls of the potato stuffing into small balls, about 1½” in diameter.

Pour a little flour for dusting into a small bowl and keep within reach on your work surface. Dust a clean, smooth wooden surface with a little flour. Flatten one dough ball at a time between the palms of your hands. Sprinkle a little flour on both sides of this flattened dough and roll it out so that it is large enough to wrap around the potato stuffing, about 6-7” in diameter. Keep picking up and turning the disk while you roll it out to ensure that it doesn’t stick to the surface; dust the surface with more flour as needed.

Place one potato ball in the center and wrap the dough around it, pinching the top where the dough comes together in order to seal the ball. Using your palms again, gently flatten this ball, sprinkle a little flour on both sides, and lightly roll it out to about 6” in diameter. Be careful not to let the potato burst out of the dough while you roll it (if it does, sprinkle a little flour over it so that it doesn’t break off later and then continue to roll it out).

Set the rolled out aloo paratha aside, and then repeat the process with the remaining balls of dough and stuffing. Stack the parathas up with wax paper between them to prevent them from sticking to each other.

When you are ready to fry them, pour a few drops of oil or ghee into a frying pan on low-medium heat. Fry each side of the paratha for 1-2 minutes. Serve hot with a dollop of butter, yogurt, or spicy South Asian pickle (I am partial to Mother’s Recipe mango pickle; you can find it and many other varieties at  Indian grocery stores).

chilli prawns

The difference between prawns and shrimp confused me until I cared enough to Google it. Growing up, we called the juicy fellas prawns and the teensy (generally dried) ones, shrimp. At some point I began to think that the difference between prawns and shrimp lay in the English language: prawn was British and shrimp, American. Turns out that there are both, structural and semantic differences: prawns are indeed larger, look and function differently, while the prawn vs. shrimp debate depends on which type of English you speak.

Mama would make these chilli prawns on occasion and they would disappear in a hot second. This recipe is my second favourite way of eating prawns, second to bacon-wrapped prawns that is.

INGREDIENTS

Prawns, 1 lb, uncooked, shelled and de-veined

Vinegar, 2 tbsp

Turmeric powder, ¾ tsp

Chilli powder, 1 tsp

Oil, 1 tbsp + 2 tbsp

Onions, 2, large, finely sliced

Salt, 1 tsp

Yields 4 servings.

DIRECTIONS

Rinse the prawns and squeeze to remove excess water. Cut them in half if they are very large; you want bits that are about 1” long. In a mixing bowl, toss them up with the vinegar, turmeric and chilli. Let them marinate for about 30 minutes in the fridge.

Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a wok. Pick the prawns out of the liquid and stir fry until they are translucent and almost cooked. Return the prawns and all the liquid that sweats from them back to the mixing bowl.

Heat 2 tbsp of oil in the same wok. Fry the onions on high heat without much stirring until they start to caramelise.

Add the liquid from the mixing bowl to the onions and let it heat up. Return the prawns to the wok, sprinkle the salt over, and mix together. Stir occasionally as the liquid starts to get absorbed and the mix starts to dry out. When the onions and prawns are reduced, they are ready to eat! Serve it with hot rice, pita bread, or in a bun.