Monthly Archives: June 2020

Kolache pohe

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The Indian region of Konkan in the west has a rich tradition of coconut based dishes similar to many other coastal regions. This is a supremely easy and extremely satisfying recipe :sour from the tamarind, creamy from the cocounut milk, sweet from the jaggery and savory from the phodni; the flavors are complex and delicious. Recipe credit to Sharmila, my cousin who sent me the recipe on whatsapp. My grandmother (also from Konkan) loved pohe with dahi, doodh, sakhar ani meeth (yogurt, milk, sugar and salt). Coconut milk was a treat because it had to be manually extracted. This recipe reminded me of her.

Poha is flattened beaten rice (easily available in the Indian store and on amazon). I used thick red poha for this recipe. Other essentials for this recipe are tamarind pulp (I boil tamarind with water and strain it to make my own pulp which I then freeze but there are plenty of pulps available commercially) and cumin seeds, asafetida and curry leaves (Indian store).

In a colander, rinse 2 cups of thick poha till soaked through and drain. The poha will soak through while you prep the rest of the dish.

Make the Kol- the coconut milk mixture: To one 14 oz can of light coconut milk, add 2 tbsp of jaggery (or brown sugar), 1 tsp or so of salt, 2-3 tbsp of finely chopped cilantro and 2 tbsp of so of tamarind pulp. Tamarind pulp varies in it’s sourness. Taste the kol, would it you it to be saltier, more sour, sweeter- adjust the flavorings till the coconut milk is delicious.

Make the tadka/phodni: To 2 tbsp of ghee or butter, add 1 tsp of jeera, wait for it to sputter, then add 1 pinch asafetida, 3-4 torn curry leaves and 2-3 dried red chillies.

Mix all 3 together and serve with fried papad or potato chips or not. Village food made easy using modern technology.

Popovers

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When I open my brunch restaurant- popovers will be on the menu, both savory and sweet. Crunchy on the outside, custary on the inside with natural little pockets for fillings. Perfect for brunch ! I’ve made these before with Jamie Oliver’s recipe. Alton Brown’s recipe from his genius book- I’m just here for more food is easier.

This is his blender recipe for both crepes and popovers. You can add herbs to your batter or 2 tbsp of sugar if you want to make it sweeter. I like it just the way it is.

First- heat up an oven and a greased 12 muffin pan to 450. The pan has to be HOT

Second- In a blender jar, measure 6oz of milk, 4 oz of water (my blender has markings which makes it very easy), 3 tbsp of melted butter and 2 eggs. Blend well. add 1 cup of flour and blend till just mixed and there are no lumps

Third- Remove the hot pan, add 1-2 tsp of fat of your choice to the muffin pans (I used butter). Divide the batter amongst the 12 cups (will come up slightly more than half of the cup)

Fourth: Bake at 450F for 15 minutes and then 350 F for 10 minutes. NO PEEKING unless you want a collapsed wad of dough instead of the airy gorgeous pastry of your dreams

Fill with savory items – like say scrambled eggs with cheese and grilled scallion crema (sour cream, grilled scallions, lime) or sweet stuff like home-made ricotta and marmelade.

Blackberry preserves home-made

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When the pandemic hits and you want preserves with your home-made ricotta , you go to the freezer. This is very quick and bubbles happily while you make brunch. In a pan, add a 10oz pack of frozen blackberries, about a tsp of fresh grated ginger (I always have frozen ginger) and 1 tbsp of so of mulling spices, pumpkin spice or any variation of clove/cinnamon/all spice/cardomom you wish. Cook for 20 minutes- stirring every few minutes.

Home-made ricotta

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Ricotta is a soup-ier creamier paneer. Delicious savory with eggs or on pizza or sweetened with sugar or honey with fruit and pancakes or crepes or toast or crumpets. Problems of rubbery ricotta can be solved by just giving the acid time- leave it be to do it’s magic. Draining early causes rubbery curd- still delicious just not as creamy.

I use vinegar with Melissa Clark’s milk-yogurt-cream proportions. The yogurt really works and makes the ricotta curds creamy. Bring to a low simmer: 4 cups of whole milk, 1/2 cup of heavy whipping cream and 1/4 cup of yogurt. Add 1/2 tsp of salt and 2 tbsp of white vinegar. Stir till the curds seperate. Remove off heat and leave curd-whey mixture alone for 10-15 minutes. Strain with cheesecloth/coffee filters over a colander for 5-20 minutes (depending on how firm you want your ricotta). I drain for about 6-7 minutes generally. The ricotta should keep for a few days – I wouldn’t know- this is such a delicious treat with sugar that we finish ours the same day everytime.

Namoura (Syrup Soaked Semolina Cake)

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When you order all purpose flour in a pandemic and the store has run out, the teenager bagging and delivering your groceries substitutes the first flour he/she can see. So I have a considerable amount of semolina flour, rye flour, almond flour and spelt flour to experiment with. This cake is the result of a search for a semolina cake and it is a winner. Based off this Tejal Rao recipe in the NYT– it is a dense very sweet cake. But the sweetness is not cloying, it is a sweetness of a good gulab jamun or a baklava, a pleasant delicious moreish sweetness.

The recipe is extremely simple. Preheat oven to 400F and grease a 9×13 inch baking pan

Step 1- to one cup of yogurt, add 2.5 tsp of baking soda, mix well and allow it to froth and rise. It rose up to nearly 3 cups by volume in 10 minutes.

Step 2: Mix 3 cups of semolina flour with 1.5 sticks (3/4 cup, 12 tbsp) of melted butter and 3/4 cup of sugar till there are no lumps.

Step 3: Add yogurt to flour and mix well (yes till no lumps remain). Spread in prepared pan.

Step 4: Score in diamond shapes and add a nut to each diamond- I used walnuts. Bake for 30 minutes or so. The scoring is unnecessary in my opinion. Just sprinkle the nuts on top.

Step 5: Make syrup with 2 cups of sugar and 1 cup of water and add 1tbsp of lemon juice and 1 tbsp of flavor (the recipe suggests lavender or rose water , I used vanilla)

Step 6: When cake is done (it pulls away from the sides)- pour the syrup(yes, all of it) on the cake evenly. Let cool and then cut along the pre-scored shapes.

Eat with coffee or wine

Palda Aloo (from Anshu)

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My friend Anshu is from Himachal Pradesh, the beautiful hill state of India. She tells me pahari (hill) food means no onions and no garlic. Sounds good to me- less prep is always good. This is her recipe. My only modification is to use ghee (or butter). In Maharashtrian food- the tempering for yogurt based dishes is always in ghee. This was so good with dosa. It’s also delicious with rice and roti.

Boil and cube 3-4 medium potatoes (about 1-2 cups)

To a cup of yogurt- add 1/2 tsp each of turmeric, red chili powder, cumin powder, coriander powder and salt.

Tempering (phodni/tadka): heat 2-3 tbsp of butter till it lightly browns or ghee- add 1 tsp of cumin seeds till they sputter, add a pinch of asafetida.

Add potatoes and cook till they are heated up: Add the yogurt mixture and about 1/2 cup of water. Cook over gentle heat till bubbling (about 5 -10 minutes). Add 1/2 tsp of garam masala and cilantro to garnish.

Quick Pineapple Jam

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When you need a quick jam with your pancake or Dutch Baby– this works. Also works for all frozen fruit.

Heat a 10 oz bag of frozen pineapple or berries or mango. Add a quarter cup of sugar and 1 tbsp of mulling spices (or pumpkin spice or any blend of cloves, cardamom, nutmeg, all spice, ginger you wish). Cook for 20 minutes on low-medium while your pancakes are cooking. This jam won’t keep and may or may not set. If you wish to be precise- heat the jam to 220 F (setting temperature), I don’t particularly care because this version has never survived more than a day in my house- my kids licks up the bowl once the jam is gone.

Dutch Baby Pancake

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A Dutch Baby pancake is a yorkshire pudding by another name. An enormous puffed up layer of deliciousness with chewy bits under the crust. My modification to the recipe is to brown the butter before the batter gets added it and adding bread flour. The butter has to be hot, the pan has to be hot and remember never to open the oven to check on your Dutch Baby till 20 minutes are done. The recipe is modified from this Florence Fabricant NYT recipe.

Heat oven to 450F with a 10 inch cast iron skillet.

Blend 3 eggs, 1/2 cup of bread flour (or all purpose flour), 1/2 cup of milk, 1 tbsp of sugar and 1tsp of flavor (for eg vanilla, orange zest, orange essence, lemon zest, cardamom). Blend for about a minute till all the flour gets incorporated into the batter.

Add 4 tbsp of butter to the hot cast iron in the oven (or on the stove). Heat for 1-4 minutes till the milk solids start browning. This burns very fast- be careful (or skip this step and heat till the butter starts to bubble). Add batter and return to the oven for 20 minutes. Shut off the oven after 20 minutes and cook for another 5 minutes.

Serve with home-made pineapple jam and that maple syrup sampler from the Vermont trip that you never opened and found during pandemic pantry cleaning.

Sooji Halwa/Shira with Mango

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This is a childhood favorite for every Indian child. It’s a pudding I guess but with more structure. The mango is completely optional, add bananas or raisins or pineapple or almonds to the halwa if you wish. it’s traditionally made with cashews and raisins. The cardamom is essential, the saffron is delicious but not essential.

Roast one cup of rava (coarse semolina) in a quarter cup of butter or ghee. The rava will become pale brown and nutty and burns very fast. Roast the cashews with the rava towards the end. Maybe a quarter cup or so of cashews.

Add 2 cups of milk and 1 cup of water with 1 tbsp of ground cardamon and a pinch of saffron. Add about 10oz of mango (I had a bag of frozen mangos) and cover and steam for 10 minutes. Stir every few minutes to prevent sticking. Then add 3/4 cup of sugar. Stir, turn off heat and cover for 5 minutes. That’s it ! Serve with coffee or tea.

Rye Bread

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The quarantine has led me to a lot of bread recipes. I enjoy trying new things but I come back again and again to my favorite loaf .The recipe works as a boule and a loaf. It is delicious with butter, hearty enough for soup and fantastic as garlic bread. This is a recipe from my all time favorite bread book- Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. Everyone should buy this book . The premise is simple, make a no-knead dough and let it rise slowly. The yeast does the gluten development for you. Let it rest in your refrigerator. The bread picks up delicious sourdough flavors. When you want to bake, all you have to do is separate out enough dough for one loaf and shape and let it rise.

This recipe makes two loaves- about a pound each. This can be doubled easily if you are planning to bake 4 loaves over 14 days.

  1. Mix 1.5 cups of lukewarm water with 1/2 tbsp of instant or active dry yeast. Add to 60 gm of rye flour (1/2 cup) and 390 g of all purpose flour (around 2 3/4 cups) and 1/2 tbsp of caraway seeds and 3/4 tbsp of kosher salt. I mix with a danish whisk but you can use a spoon or your hands or the paddle on a stand mixer-  make sure all the flour is incorporated.  Do not knead
  2. Cover and let rise at room temperature for 2-3 hours (until the dough rises and then flattens on top)
  3. Refrigerate and use within the next 14 days (it really is that easy)
  4. Baking day! Seperate out half the dough and shape  into the bread you wish. Dust your worksurface with flour and shape into a ball or an oblong if you plan a loaf.This is the toughest part. The dough will be wet and sticky and it is important to shape it properly with a thin film of flour. If this is your first time- watch some youtube videos. Place on parchment or a greased loaf pan (8 1/4 inch) . Cover with a dome or greased plastic wrap and let it rise for 1-2 hours. In a loaf pan, the bread will be about half an inch below the lip of the pan.
  5. Make the cornstarch wash (mix 1/2 cup of water and 1/2 tsp of cornflour and microwave for 1-2 minutes till glossy )
  6. Preheat oven to 450 F with a baking stone for 30 minutes. This bread needs steam at the start of the baking to  soften the crust and to allow it to rise. Any steam injecting method will work. I bake in a covered dutch oven if I am baking a round, if I am baking a loaf , I add a pan with water while the oven is preheating.
  7. Paint the top of the loaf with cornstarch wash, sprinkle with caraway seeds. If you are making a round- make a slash with a knife about an inch deep. If you are baking a loaf- your top will split (I’m ok with that, if you aren’t- there are slashing techniques to prevent that).
  8. Bake for 30 minutes. Cool before slicing.