Sprout it, Eat it..

Ingredients:
1 cup green moong
1 tbsp peanut oil
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 inch ginger, crushed
6-7 green chilies
1 stem green curry leaves
a pinch of asafoetida
½ tsp turmeric powder
½ tsp red chili powder
1 tsp dhana jeeru powder
2 tbsp sugar powder
½ lemon
a little bunch of cilantro, finely chopped

Soak 1 cup moong in ~3 cups water overnight.

The next day, drain off the water, and put the moong in a colander. Cover it with a wet tissue paper. Keep sprinkling it with water once in a while, just so that the moong can be kept moist and allow it to sprout well. Allow the moong to sprout for the day and prepare it on the third day.

In a large pan, heat 1 tbsp oil. Once heated enough, add the mustard seeds. Once they begin to pop, add the chopped green chilies, green curry leaves, ginger, asafoetida, turmeric powder and red chili powder. Add moong to it, along with 1 cup of water. Mix well. Cover the pan with it’s lid and allow to cook for a while. Keep mixing every once in a while and add water if required, until the moong is cooked. Add dhana jeeru powder and sugar. Mix well. Turn off the gas and squeeze in half a lemon. Mix well. Garnish with cilantro.

Serve hot as a snack.

Sambharo

Ingredients:
1 medium sized cabbage
1 large tomato, finely chopped
½ lemon
A little bunch of cilantro, finely chopped

For tempering:
1 tbsp oil
1 tsp mustard seeds
6-7 green chilies, chopped
2 stems green curry leaves

Other masala:
½ tsp turmeric powder
salt to taste

Shred the cabbage, mix it with salt (to taste) and ½ tsp turmeric powder and set aside to marinate for ½ hour.

In a large pan, heat 1 tbsp oil. Once heated enough, add the mustard seeds. Once they begin to pop, add the chopped green chilies and green curry leaves. Mix a bit and then add the shredded cabbage to it. Cover the lid and let the cabbage cook for about 15 minutes, stirring every once in a while to prevent the cabbage from sticking to the pan. Open the lid and add the finely chopped tomatoes. Cook for a while, until both, the cabbage and tomatoes are tender and cooked fully. Turn off the stove. Squeeze half a lemon in it. Mix it well, and garnish with cilantro.

Serve hot with ghee Rotis.

Marhaba.. Umm Ali

I practically drool everytime I imagine eating sweetened condensed milk. Because I was a 'healthy' girl since I was a teenager, I was generally warned to keep away from food items like these, not that it really did.. And sometime ago, while I was out for grocery shopping, I chanced upon tonnes of cans of condensed milk in an aisle. Brought back a lot of memories where I used to sneak upto the fridge and help myself to a generous dose of it :). I got a couple of cans, and ever since then I have been on a look out for recipes that uses it. My quest for vegetarian Middle-East recipes (specifically Falafel) brought me to the dessert section and I found: Umm ali (Ali's Mother), an awesome dessert recipe from the land of pyramids, Egypt. It must taste soooo good! Umm..! And all the more better with vanilla ice cream on top. Hoping to try it out tonight, will see how it goes..

Ingredients:

1 package of frozen puff pastry (17 ounces)
1 15 oz can of sweetened condensed milk
3 cups water
1/2 cup cream
3/4 cup pistachios, shelled, chopped
1/2 cup pine nuts
1/2 cup almonds
1/2 - 3/4 cups coconut flakes (depending on taste)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 400ºF.

Unroll puff pastry sheets and place on greased baking sheets. Bake for 15' until the puff pastry is golden and puffed. Remove from oven.

Break puff pastry into small pieces (~1-2 inches). Add nuts and coconut and be sure that they are mixed well and evenly distributed. Place nuts and pastry in greased 9x12 baking dish.

In a saucepan, heat sweetened milk, vanilla, and water on medium heat. Allow to cook for about 3-5'. Remove from heat and allow to cool.

Pour milk over puff pastry-nut mixture. Pour cream on top and bake uncovered for ~15'.

Serve warm.

Cashew'ed!

Q: Finding it tough being a veggie?

Pre-USA:
"Beta, be very careful about food when you go to restaurants in USA, they probably have some sort of meat mixed in everything.. If possible, avoid going out for food.."
"I am telling you, your daughter will probably be a non-vegetarian by the end of a year in USA.."

Post USA (after ~15 months):
"So, I am sure you have tasted every meat on the platter in USA.. How did you like it?" (Totally assuming that I am a pakka non-veggie by now)
"Are you sure you are being truthful? Tell me, you really haven't had any non-veg food in your entire 1.5 years of stay in USA, How is it even possible, from what I have heard..?" (Can you please listen to me for a second?)

Oof..
I dont know how I can even begin to try to convince them that it is not so dificult being a veggie (erm, I mean lacto vegetarian, I sooo love milk!) in USA. People here are respectful of your wish being one, although some of my friends have expressed their amazement at how I could survive without any meat in my diet! And also, these days even some of the remotest towns here have managed to have at least one Indian grocery store, which makes available to you the basic Indian stuff like say dal for instance. They even have all sorts of Indian snacks and mithaai.. mmm.. But my love for food is something I will probably talk about in my future blogs..

Some time ago, one of my friends invited me over for dinner at her place, and her husband had cooked up 'Cashew chicken'. He had taken it straight out of Rachel Ray's under 30 minute cooking recipes. For me, he made a veggie version: obviously, same stuff, no chicken. This recipe I think is totally the way Americans love it: A bit spicy and a tad sweet; an awesome combination. I totally loved it too and I hope to try it out as soon as I can free myself away from my lab. Meanwhile, I am putting up a veggie-version of the Cashew Rice here of what I hope to make some-day. Have a go and let me know! (Wow, I can rhyme it too! ;)

Ingredients:
1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil (or EVOO =D)
2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 tbsp butter
2 - 3 tbsp honey
1/4 - 1/3 cup maple syrup
2 - 3 tbsp dark soy sauce
1 tbsp ground cumin
2 tbsp grill seasoning blend
1 1/2 tbsp ground chipotle powder
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1 large onion, 1/4 onion finely chopped, 3/4 thinly sliced
1 cup green peas
1 red bell pepper, seeded and thinly sliced
10 to 12 whole water chestnuts
2 - 3 tbsp chopped cilantro
1 cup raw cashews
2 cups rice

In a medium pot over medium heat combine 1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil, 1 tbsp butter. When butter melts into oil, add in the chopped onion, cook until the onion becomes slightly pinkish and tender, then add rice and cook. (PS: I would'nt mind not adding in the onions while cooking the rice, but butter and EVOO sounds good, or may be even a couple of cloves!)

While rice cooks, heat the vegetable oil, add the remaining sliced onions, crushed garlic and red peppers. Cook for ~2 - 3 minutes. Add water chestnuts and green peas. Mix. Add the chipotle powder and ground cumin. Mix. Glaze the mixture with honey and maple syrup and turn off the heat. Add in the chopped cilantro and the cashew nuts.

Top rice with cashew mixture and serve.

Navratna, the way I make it...

Last weekend was fun. T'was Friday evening, and I was feeling very nostalgic, with an inclination to make one of those veggie curries that every so often pop up in my mind bringing back some very tasty memories. Aah, woh maa ke haath ka khaana! So, with bits and pieces of my memory guiding me, I made Navratna Korma, albeit without any fresh fruits :)

Variations allowed, but on a condition, you have to let me know about it so that I can modify it the next time I make it again!

Here goes for the Navratna Korma...

For the white gravy:
1 cup cashewnuts
1 tsp poppy seeds
1 big red onion
1 tomato
2-3 green chillies
2-3 cloves garlic
1/2" ginger
1 stick cinnamon, 2-3 cloves, pepper to taste

Additional ingredients:
2 tbsp oil
1 tsp jeera, 2 cloves, 1/2 stick cinnamon, 5-6 black peppercorns, 1 bay leaf.
2 tbsp yoghurt
2 tbsp powdered sugar

Vegetables:
I usually use mixed frozen vegetables which include: green peas, carrot, corn, green beans.
Additionally you can add paneer/tofu; fresh fruits like apples, grapes and pineapple and dry fruits like raisins (since you already have cashewnuts in the gravy).

Grind all the stuff for the white gravy together.

Heat ~2tbsp oil in a pan.
Add 1 tsp jeera, 2 cloves, 1/2 stick cinnamon, 5-6 black peppercorns, 1 bay leaf.
As soon as the vaghaar is done, add the prepared white gravy to this, along with ~2 tbsp of yoghurt and let it cook on medium heat until the oil seperates out.

Add the vegetables and paneer/fruits/dry fruits to this.
Add salt, a pinch of turmeric, chilli powder to taste.
Let it cook for a while, ~20 min or so.

Add ~2-3 tsps sugar, before taking it off the heat.